Emerging Compassions
by jcfreak4ever
Summary: A series of adventures that gradually bring Jimmy and Cindy closer together, starting with her saving his life. LoV gradually gets involved, endangering the group more and MORE as time passes...! ! WHAT do they have planned THIS time? ! Split into smaller chunks, Part 1, Part 2, etc..., due to its growing length. Big J/C, some S/L. Reviews are strongly encouraged!
1. Chapter 1 The School Project

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 1: The School Project

(Jimmy's POV)

Looking back on that eventful adventure, it's hard to believe all our experiences were true. Yet, whenever I think about it, my entire being shudders out of fear of what might've been. I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Cindy, saving my life & all... But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It all started one day in Lindbergh High, as any normal day would. My classmates & I had just taken our seats when Miss Fowl announced, "BRRAAWK Class, the time has come for our monthly sciiiieence project!"

Some of the kids groaned when they heard her say that, but not me! I joyfully exclaimed, "Yes! Another opportunity to conquer Vortex in my best academic subject!"

"Dream ON, Brain Boy, cuz MY project is SO gonna dominate yours!" Cindy challenged me.

"Not so FAAAAST, children! You're being assigned into groups in this particular project, according to your own preference, of course!" Miss Fowl informed us.

_That's fine,_ I thought to myself, getting a disgusted look on my face, _As long as I don't have to share a group with VORTEX!_ With that, I leaned over to her & stuck my tongue out at her. She just stuck hers out back at me.

Then I looked over at my 2 best friends & told them, "Carl, Sheen, you're both going to be in my group!"

"Okay," Sheen agreed, "But NOT without my Libby-licious!"

"Do WHAT?" I exclaimed, hardly believing my ears, rubbing them to make sure I heard right.

"You heard right, Jimmy! I want Libby to be in our group!" he informed me.

"Okay, Sheen," she agreed, "I'll be in yo' group, but ONLY if Cindy's in it, too!"

CINDY? Okay, my world as I knew it had officially gone crazy! Sheen just _had_ to include Libby in our group, which she'd only do if Cindy was in it! Had everyone gone INSANE?

"Fine, whatever," I muttered under my breath. Then I firmly added, "On ONE condition!"

"What's the condition, Nerd-tron?" Cindy wanted to know.

"You let ME be in charge of our project! Otherwise, you'll have to find someone else's group to join!" I dryly informed her, my arms folded.

She gave it a few moments of thought, then snapped, "Okay, FINE!"

Then I had a thought. _Wait__ a minute!_ I thought to myself, _What EXACTLY is this project supposed to be __about__?_

Then I raised my hand & asked, "Miss Fowl, what type of science project is this? Astronomy? Physics? Geology?"

"Aaaactuallyyy, it's none of those. This project is based on bioooology! Each group is to find a new or recently discovered marine species from the oceans & write a documentary on it based on what characteristics it has & how it survives its environment on a daily basis BRRAWWK," she informed us. Then she asked, "Has everyone formed their groups?"

Each of us voiced a positive response in unison.

"Good," Miss Fowl told us.

Then the bell that signalled the end of the day rang.

As we filed out of the classroom, she called after us, "Remember, children, this report is due 2 weeks from today BRRRAAWWK! And if the life form is from another planet, you get extra credit!"

We acknowledged her with generally positive responses as we made our way to our lockers.

I was currently in the process of packing up my bookbag (AKA: my jetpack) when Cindy showed up & started barking at me about how she wanted to be in charge of the project by saying, "Nerd-tron, I demand to know WHY _you_ took charge of this project instead of me! I'm SO totally capable of being in charge, as well! There should be a perfectly good explanation as to why this is, so SPILL it!"

"As a matter of fact, there IS a good explanation for that!" I sharply told her, "When I DO let you be in charge of our projects, which is RARE, you usually don't know what you're doing, often because my inventions are involved & you usually don't know HOW to use them! Then you usually cause them to malfunction, forcing me to fix them before our lives, & sometimes the entire earth, as well, are in jeopardy! And you've NO idea how irritating that can get!"

We continued to walk out the school as she snapped, "Not to mention how irritating you putting us & the world in PERIL frequently! That's what irritates ME the most!"

"Huh, well, _TOUGH __LUCK_, Vortex!" I barked at her, "Because my inventions usually malfunction before they actually WORK properly!"

"Okay, this fightin' has GOTTA stop!" came a familiar voice.

Surprised, we both turned around to face Libby, who'd just then walked up to us with her hands on her hips.

Then she added to Sheen who also came up to her, "Sheen, PLEASE tell those 2 to stop arguin'!"

"Just cut it OUT already!" he shrieked.

Sheen's shouting attracted Carl's attention. Then he said, "Stop fighting, already! It's gonna give me a hernia! Next, my RA-...!"

"Carl, don't EVEN bring that UP!" Sheen snapped.

"Sorry," Carl admitted.

"Seriously," Sheen asked, "What's got you 2 in a squabble?"

"All I did," I explained, "was tell her that I'D take control of our project, & she began barking at me about how she was equally capable of taking charge! Then I explained to her how, WHEN she _did_ take charge, she'd tamper with my inventions & I'd have to fix them before they wreaked havoc on the town! And forgive ME for them malfunctioning before they actually WORK!"

"Oh, & I'M responsible for them malfunctioning! _Real_ smooth, Nerd-bomb!" she hissed at me.

"Okay, both o' y'all, just SHUT UP!" Libby shrieked.

THAT got our attention!

"Sorry, Libby," I muttered, then whispered, "You know, SHE started it!"

"I heard that, FrankenHead! And I did NOT!" Cindy barked.

"Did TOO!" I shot back.

"Did NOT!"

"Did TOO!"

"Okay, that's ENOUGH!" Libby snapped, & grabbed both of us by our wrists & dragged us to the Candy Bar, where she sat us in a booth & laid a sheet of paper on the table. Then she handed both of us pens.

I soon found out that this was a treaty of some sort.

"Okay, you 2, sign at the bottom of the-," she began, but was cut short by a large shock wave that shook the entire restaurant.

"Okay, now what was THAT?" Libby gasped, clearly freaked out.

At that moment, the shock wave that had shaken the Candy Bar threw Carl & Sheen up against the window, then they slid down onto the ground.

I lept up & ran outside to check on them. Then I shook Carl's & Sheen's shoulders & anxiously asked, "Carl, are you okay? Sheen, can you hear me?"

Sheen sat up, rubbed his head, & moaned, "Oh, my head... What happened, Jimmy?"

"Ow! My scapula!" Carl exclaimed after sitting upright, rubbing his back.

"A shock wave from an unknown source sent you guys flying into the Candy Bar window, then you slid onto the ground. Are you sure you guys are okay?" I verified, helping them to their feet.

"Ouchies, I think so. Carl, you okay?" Sheen wanted to know, rubbing his head.

"My scapula still hurts, but I think I'll be fine," he replied.

Then Cindy & Libby came out to investigate the situation.

"You know, Neutron, Libs & I would personally like to know what caused that enormous shock wave that shook the Candy Bar!" Cindy informed me, her hands on her hips.

"Yeah!" Libby agreed, "Ya notice anything strange, King Cranium?"

I observed my surroundings & told them warily, "Not yet, but you never know who could be hiding just out of sight, just waiting to attack us with yet another shock wave or sonic boom!"

As if on cue, a strange figure came into view just near the sun, so we had to shade our eyes in order to see it, but it grew bigger with every second. I had a feeling that this strange shape was an alien ship of some sort, so I paged Goddard on my watch.

Almost immediately, he came bounding up to me, wiggling his body & barking a little bit.

"Goddard, Bino-Scope Mode!" I told him, & his eyes turned into binocular-looking things & a round screen showed what was fast approaching us. As I continued to observe it, I soon saw the pilot of the craft. It was the JunkMan!

"Oh, no!" Carl shrieked, pointing at Goddard's screen, "It's the JunkMan!"

"C'mon, guys!" I instructed, making a break for it, "Follow me! I have an escape plan!"

We ran from the Candy Bar parking lot to my place, where I luckily found my rocket sitting right outside my lab.

"Quick! To the rocket!" Sheen urged.

For once, Cindy & Libby didn't complain about his crazy antics. They were obviously too concerned about escaping the JunkMan, as were the rest of us! We jumped into it, I manned the controls & started it up, & quickly sent it flying into outer space, but not without placing tiny cameras in strategic locations so I could keep an eye on the JunkMan.

About 10 minutes later, I landed my rocket in the Moon's Sea of Tranquillity.

We had just gotten out of it & started to look around when I heard, "Jimmy! Oh, _Jimmy!"_

_Oh, NO!_ I thought begrudgingly, _It's Brobot! Why, that little annoyance!_

Then he came out of hiding & saw us, then he hurried over to us & said, "Why, hey there, big brother! Whatcha doin' here?"

"For your information, Brobot, I'm here with my friends to hide from the JunkMan, but, at the same time, keep an eye out for him by using tiny cameras placed at strategic locations on Earth to watch his actions, the videos of which I can access through Goddard," I explained, trying to remain calm.

"Oh! Can I help?" he asked.

"Honestly, Brobot, I'm not sure if there's anything you can actually DO to help," I informed him.

"Oh," he said, sounding a little sad.

Then I told Goddard, "Goddard, Multi-Camera Mode!"

He barked & displayed a large, rectangular screen that showed what all my cameras on Earth were seeing.

Cindy walked up to me & asked, "Neutron, what is the JunkMan up to THIS time?"

"It looks like he's trying to find me, but is having no success, because I'm on the Moon!" I observed, laughing at his futile efforts.

Then Goddard's screen showed him returning to his ship & blasting off, headed in our direction!

"Gas planet, he's headed straight for us!" I gasped, then exclaimed, "Guys, get OVER here!"

Libby, Sheen, & Carl hurried over & looked at the screen, gasping at what they beheld before them.

"Darn you JunkMan! Why must you torture us so?" Sheen shrieked into space, his arms reaching towards the stars.

"Enough of your yelling, Ultra-DORK! We gotta get outta here!" Cindy snapped at him.

With that, Goddard returned to normal & hurried with the rest of us back to my rocket. I started it up & began to blast us off of the Moon.

But we didn't get far because the JunkMan beamed us up into his ship using a tractor beam.

"What do we do?" Carl yelled as we were beamed up.

"Hang on!" I hollered as we went up & into the ship.

"NOW what are we gonna do?" Libby sighed as the JunkMan approached us once we were inside his ship.


	2. Chapter 2 Brobot On Board

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 2: Brobot on Board

(Cindy's POV)

Carl apparently saw the Junkman coming near us, because he asked him, "Mr. Junkman, sir, you're not gonna hurt us or anything, are you?"

The Junkman just chuckled to himself & replied deviously, "Of course not, little jelly-bags! The hurting will come MUCH, much later!"

Jimmy, clearly annoyed with him, snapped, "HOW many times do I have to tell you? We're NOT jelly-bags, we're HUMAN BEINGS, for the love of Albert Einstein!"

"Yeah, except for Goddard," Sheen pointed out, "Cuz he's a robot."

"Just like ME!" came a familiar voice.

"DARN it!" I heard Jimmy mutter under his breath, "I thought we ditched him on the Moon!"

"Do I hear Brobot's voice, Neutron?" I asked him suspiciously.

"Yeah, you do, Vortex," he told me. I could sense a great deal of irritation in his voice.

"But, where is it coming from?" I demanded, frustrated.

As if on cue, Brobot popped his head up out of the seat behind the pilot's seat in Jimmy's rocket & said happily, "Here I am, big brother!"

Jimmy groaned & walked over to him, then informed him, "Brobot, do you even know where we ARE?"

"Are we in a fun house?" he guessed.

"No, this is the Junkman's ship! You know, the bad guy who almost turned you & your parents into GravaDiscs?" he said, clearly irritated with him.

Then some movement elsewhere caught my eye. I looked over & saw Roxy, the Junkman's dog, starting to romance Goddard! I covered my mouth as I tried ever so hard to contain my laughter, but, eventually, my amusement got the best of me & I burst out laughing at those 2! I nudged Libby, who was standing near me, & managed to say between outbursts, "Libs, check it out! Roxy & Goddard are ROMANCING! How hilarious is THAT?"

She looked over at them & burst into a huge giggle fit, just as I was.

Sheen walked over to us & asked, "What's so funny, girls?"

She & I were laughing so hysterically that all we could do to respond was point at Roxy & Goddard, still giggling.

He took one look at them & burst out giggling like crazy!

Carl walked over to us & questioned, "What's so funny, guys?"

"Take a look at Goddard & Roxy!" Sheen managed to gasp between bouts of giggling.

Carl looked at them & he, too, burst out laughing hysterically.

Attracted by all our laughter & giggling, Jimmy walked up to us & asked, "What's got you guys so worked up?"

My laughter had died down enough to tell him, "Take a look at your & the Junkman's DOG, Neutron!"

But, when HE took a look at them, his reaction was quite different. "Goddard, get over here, NOW!" he snapped.

The Junkman saw this, too, & grabbed Roxy's collar, dragging her away from Goddard. I couldn't help but notice that she was whining a little bit as she was drug away.

As for Goddard, he just obediently but slowly slunk over to his master, but not without casting a wistful glance back at Roxy. It was almost as if he was missing her already.

"Goddard, you know better than to associate with beings outside our planet!" Jimmy scolded him. Then he turned to the Junkman & wanted to know, a suspicious look in his eyes, "What exactly IS your devious plan, Junkman?"


	3. Chapter 3 The Junkman's Devious Plot

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 3: The Junkman's Devious Plot

(Libby's POV)

"Well, puny earthlings, since you asked, I'm gonna take you to the hottest star in the universe, carbonize you to a crisp, chop you into chips, & deliver you to the Needleheads as their annual treats!" the Junkman declared.

Jimmy gasped angrily and protested, "You WOULDN'T!"

"I would!" the Junkman retorted deviously.

"Junkman! Why must you turn us into chips? Think I could have some ranch dressing to go with me?" Sheen started to growl, then asked inquisitively.

Cindy just rolled her eyes and commented, "Way to focus on the REAL problem, cheapskate!"

Stupidly thinking this was a compliment, he thanked her, "Thanks, Cindy!"

"Whatever...," she muttered, not really listening.

The Junkman just growled & ordered to some robots, "Take these good-for-nothings to the dungeon, pronto!"

With that, those robots grabbed a hold of us, Brobot, & Goddard & dragged us mercilessly to a dungeon. They threw us inside, slid the door shut loudly, and locked it.

"Great. What do we do NOW, Nerd-tron?" Cindy snapped, her hands on her hips.

"My big brother Jimmy can do anything, cuz he's a GENIUS!" Brobot boasted proudly.

"We know, we know!" we all except Jimmy complained.

"So, what's the plan, Neutron?" I asked him nervously.

"Uh, guys?" Carl pointed out, looking out the round dungeon window & pointing, "Did we just pass Jupiter, cuz we're sure going pretty fast out of our Solar System!"

We all joined him and gasped, seeing that he was right! The Junkman WAS taking us away! But which star was the hottest in the universe was the fact that was puzzling me. I had no idea which one was, cuz there's billions upon billions of stars in the entire universe!

So I turned yet again to Jimmy & wanted to know, "Neutron, which star in the universe is the hottest? And HOW are we gonna escape the Junkman without him noticing?"

"Luckily, I brought my hypercube with me, equipped with anything we'll need to escape & survive for a time!" he announced, pulling it out of his pocket.

"So, how are we gonna escape, Freak-tron?" Cindy snapped rudely.

I just rolled my eyes & shook my head in disgust, thinking, _Cindy, WHEN will ya learn to __stop__ tormenting Neutron? And for Pete's sake, WHY won't ya admit ya __like__ him? That's drivin' me NUTS!_

She apparently noticed my disgusted look & asked, "What's on your mind, Libs? Why the disgusted look?"

I took her aside & questioned suspiciously, slapping my forehead in disgust, "Girl, why won'tcha admit yo' PASSION fo' him up front to him? Ya act this way EVERY time you're around him! Girl, this is drivin' me berserk!"

"It's just that- uh, well, heh-heh... Um, I'm just not, um, comfortable with that yet, Libby! Why must ya be so PRYING about that issue? Besides, I don't think he'd like me back if I admitted it to him...," she told me, looking down at her shoes.

"You don't know that, Cin!" I replied fervently, "All ya gotta do is go up to him, look him STRAIGHT in the eye, & admit it! How hard can it BE, girl?"

"Libby, you don't even know how HARD it is to be me! Having a mother that always expects perfection out of me is VERY hard on me! She always wants me to win! THAT'S why I don't just go up to him & admit it, cuz I'm afraid of failure & him not liking me back! Ya see?" she explained to me.

Unfortunately, Sheen had heard every word out of Cindy's mouth just then, cuz he asked her, "So, when are ya gonna admit ya like Jimmy?"

Cindy grabbed him by the front of his shirt collar & hissed, "Never, Ultra-FREAK! HOW many times do I have to tell you this?"

"One hundred thousand times oughtta do it," I heard Carl mutter.

She marched right up to him & snarled, "WHAT did you just say, Llama-Boy?"

He tried to push her away as he said, "Cindy, stop it! You're giving me a migrane!"

Jimmy saw this & snapped at her, "Vortex, you better watch your mouth, cuz I'm tempted to leave you behind with the Junkman as the rest of us escape!"

That ticked me OFF! I leaned over to him & sneered, "Neutron, there is NO way you're leavin' Cindy behind! I am not about to let that happen!"

Sheen piped up & reminded him, "Are we gonna escape or what?"

"Duh! C'mere, guys!" Jimmy ordered, motioning us to him.

We huddled up & Brobot asked, "What's your plan, big brother?"

"This!" he exclaimed quietly, & shrunk us down to the size of a grain of sand with his shrink ray he'd brought with him. I saw that he'd also shrunk his rocket. Then he whispered additionally, leading us out between the bars of the cell, "Now, c'mon! We're too small for the heat & motion sensors to detect us, so we should be able to escape fairly easily. Now, get in my rocket, quickly!"

We did as he asked, then he managed to find an opening small enough for us to slip through & leave the Junkman's ship behind. Then he returned us back to normal size again.

Unfortunately, as we returned to Earth in the rocket, it was unknowingly out of fuel, so it plummeted down towards the ocean, but landed nose-first into an island's beach. This island's beach looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on how it was as I looked around with the rest of them. Then, it hit me! This was the same island that Cindy & Jimmy were once stranded on! _This is NOT lookin' good at __all__..._ I thought begrudgingly to myself.


	4. Chapter 4 Stranded Again!

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 4: Stranded... Again!

(Sheen's POV)

"UGH! I don't BELIEVE it! Stranded again!" Cindy groaned, "Only with all 5 of us on the island together!"

"Why?" I asked her, bumping Libby flirtatiously with my hip, "What's so bad about it? I kinda like it, in fact!"

She just glared at me and muttered, "Cut it out, Sheen..."

"Sorry," I admitted. Then I thought, _Hey, we're on a beach! Let's have some fun here!_ "I know what! Let's bury eachother in the sand!" I exclaimed.

But Jimmy didn't think so, cuz he said sharply, "Sheen, focus! We have to find a way off this island!"

"Oh, yeah...," I realized aloud.

"So, until we find a way off the island, shall we start exploring fo' food now?" Libby wanted to know.

"Good idea, Libby!" Jimmy complimented her, then instructed us, "Everyone, split up! Guys and girls, now go!"

With that, both our groups headed in opposite directions. We hadn't gone far when I noticed something written on a palm tree trunk. That interested me, so I ran over to get a closer look. "J and C forever," I read aloud, then I called Jimmy over, saying, "Hey, Jimmy! Get a load of this!"

"What is it, Sheen? Have you found any food yet?" he asked, walking over to me.

"No, but look at what's written on this tree!" I exclaimed, barely able to contain my excitement, pointing at it.

He stared at it with a serious look for a few moments, then his eyes lit up and his cheeks turned bright red. "Hey!" he realized aloud, "MY name starts with a 'J'! Who exactly wrote this? And WHOSE name starts with a 'C'?"

"Well," I said helpfully, hopefully, "The only people who were here last were you and Cindy, and you didn't write it, did ya?"

"NO, of course not, Sheen! So, if I didn't, that means that...," he said hesitantly.

"That...?" I questioned him, Carl soon joining me.

"...That SHE wrote it!" Jimmy exclaimed with a stupefied look, staring at the written message and pointing at it, his mouth agape.

"Dude, you really DO have issues with her," I told him, wide-eyed.

"Yeah!" Carl agreed, "What have you GOT against Cindy, Jimmy?"

"What have I got- What have I _got_ against HER? She's snotty; she's bratty; she's rude; she's-!" he began, but was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"I'm what, Spew-tron?" Cindy demanded, walking up to us with Libby at her side.

"Never mind that! What did you girls find to eat?" Jimmy asked the 2 girls.

"Actually, Neutron, we haven't started lookin' yet...," Libby informed him.

"Yeah, so, um, WHAT exactly did you say I was, Brain Boy?" Cindy suspiciously questioned him.

"Um, nothing! I said nothing!" he stammered, blushing hard.

But I don't think Cindy believed him, cuz she started marching towards him, making him back up into a tree and snapped, "Listen, bub, I know you said something, cuz I heard ya loud and CLEAR! You think I'm snotty, bratty, rude, and some other stuff! You better WATCH it, cuz I know karate, ju-jitsu, tai-chi, tai-kwon-do, and judo and I _ain't_ afraid to use 'em! Do you HEAR me, Nerd-tron?"

"Y-Yes, I hear ya loud and CLEAR, Vortex!" Jimmy stammered nervously.

"Good!" she told him curtly, backing up so he could step away from the tree he was leaning against. Then, in a gentler tone, she added, "Let's go find some roughage, shall we?"

"Good idea, girl!" Libby said approvingly, walking with the rest of us into the jungle on the island.

"Just remember the wildlife here is quite dangerous! I had to rescue Cindy several times while she and I were stranded from it! Keep an eye out for pythons and giant spiders, got it, guys?" Jimmy warned them.

"Got it!" we told him in unison. Little did we know how wrong we were...


	5. Chapter 5 A Trap Door

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 5: A Trap Door

(Carl's POV)

"Okay, Neutron, how are we gonna know what's edible and what's not?" Cindy snapped, arms folded as we ventured ever deeper into the island jungle.

Jimmy simply pulled something out of his hypercube and responded calmly, "With this! When I aim it at something, it'll display on its screen whether what it's aimed at is edible or not! It can also show who likes what! In order to do that, I'll need a DNA sample from each of you. I've already added mine to the database, so I just need the rest of you to cooperate with me and give me a strand of your hair, please."

Libby, Sheen, and I readily gave him a sample for him to put into that gadget of his, but Cindy wasn't so willing, it seemed, because when he leaned over to her to get a sample, she slapped his hand away and ran a few feet away from him.

"Nerd-tron, you are NOT touching a hair on my head! Just get away from me with that thing, Freak Brain!" she protested.

"Vortex, this is the only way you'll find food easily! I just need your DNA in order to do so! Fine. If you want to do it the hard way, then be my guest!" he told her matter-of-factly. With that, he led us away further into the jungle, Cindy lagging behind a short distance away, dragging her feet ever so slowly.

Suddenly, we heard a snap of a twig being broken behind us, as if it was stepped on, then the sound of a leaf covering giving way and Cindy screaming as she fell into a hole.

We ran over to where she fell and looked into the hole. We saw that it was made of dirt for about 20 feet, then turned into a metal tunnel that led to who knows where. We could still hear her screaming, but it got fainter as she got deeper into the tunnel until we couldn't hear her anymore. Jimmy seemed the most concerned, because he stepped all the way to the edge and stooped over to get a better look into it. He was apparently too close to the edge, because his foot slipped on the loose vegetation on the jungle floor and fell in feet-first on his back, screaming the whole time as well. Then the ground crumbled beneath the rest of us and Libby, Sheen, Goddard, and I fell in, too, screaming at the top of our lungs the whole time.

We slid down the tunnel for about 20 seconds, then exited it and landed on a heavily-padded floor, which was covered in pillows. Cindy landed first, soon to be followed by Jimmy, who landed right on top of her, which I'm pretty sure she hated with a passion. Then the rest of us fell out and landed in random places all over the pillow-covered floor, thankful we weren't hurt or anything by our fall. But, there was one problem: we couldn't see anything. It was darker than a dark cellar at midnight with someone putting black wool gloves over one's eyes and their eyes being shut. But we did hear a deep voice calling out to us from who knows where, saying, "Agent Neutron, I've been expecting you..."

"I know that voice!" I heard Jimmy exclaim. Then, right behind us, a howling noise followed by 2 lit-up eyes came up behind us. It was Goddard! He landed from out of the tunnel right next to his master and licked him 'till he pushed him down gently. Then he added, "I'd recognize that voice anywhere! It's...!"


	6. Chapter 6 A Minor, Embarrassing Setback

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 6: A Minor, Embarrassing Setback...

(Jimmy's POV)

"...Commander Baker!" I exclaimed, hardly believing my ears.

"Yes, Agent Neutron, it is I...," came his calm reply, and with that, he flicked the lights on.

I saw that we were in a large room with, as I'd previously suspected, the floor covered in a blanket of pillows to cushion our fall.

"Where are we?" Carl wanted to know.

"You and your friends are in the Pacific headquarters of BTSO," Commander Baker informed us.

"Oh, well, that makes logical sense...," I muttered, rising to my feet. But I couldn't help but notice that Baker was trying extremely hard to keep a straight face while staring at me. It sounded like he was trying hard not to laugh, so it came out as a snorting noise while he covered his mouth. "Commander Baker, may I ask what is making you sound like that?" I politely asked him.

He just kept covering his mouth as he rushed to a far off location, probably to try not to embarrass one of us by laughing at him/her.

I watched him run off in confusion, pondering aloud and shrugging my shoulders, "What's gotten into him?"

Then I noticed that my companions were trying not to laugh, as well, as they stared at me with wide eyes and their mouths covered.

Finally, Cindy couldn't seem to hold it in any longer, and burst out laughing while pointing at me for some reason. After she calmed down enough, she roared, "Neutron, isn't it OBVIOUS why he was trying not to laugh? Just LOOK at yourself!"

I looked down and saw that, aside from my t-shirt, socks, and shoes, I wasn't wearing anything! "YAAAAAHHHHH!" I shrieked, picking up one of the pillows and covering myself up with it, extremely embarrassed. I plopped down onto the other pillows and covered myself up as best I could, feeling my face turn bright red out of embarrassment.

Then my embarrassment turned to fury as I glared at Cindy and snarled, "Vortex, did you have anything to do with this humiliating situation I'm in?"

"WHY would I do something like this, Freak-tron?" she protested, pointing upward, "Something _clearly_ happened as you were sliding down that tunnel up there!"

_Hmmm..._ I thought to myself, _She must be right, because I don't see my garments anywhere! I __do__ remember getting caught on something as I was sliding down, forcing me from sliding on my back to on my stomach... Then I felt a strange breeze on me the rest of the way. Oh..., NO! I've GOTTA send Goddard back up there so I can properly cover myself up! That way, Commander Baker can focus and tell me what exactly he was expecting me for!_ Then I ordered Goddard, "Goddard, head back up the tunnel, find my garments in it, and bring them back to me, please!"

He barked his reply and headed back up the tunnel a fair distance. Then he returned with them in his mouth a minute or two later.

I took them from him and put them back on, a sigh of relief escaping my mouth as I felt my embarrassment leave me.

"Wow, Jimmy!" Sheen commented, "I'm surprised that it didn't happen to the rest of us!"

Getting up after I'd dressed myself, I noted, trying hard not to laugh, "I wouldn't say that, Sheen! Or the rest of you guys!"


	7. Chapter 7 From Humiliation to Espionage

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 7: From Humiliation to Espionage

(Cindy's POV)

"What are you talking about, Nerd-Bomb?" I protested, hands on my hips.

His hand temporarily leaving his mouth to speak while trying to stifle his laughter, Jimmy snickered, "Vortex, YOU should know! Don't you feel an unwelcome breeze, and the same with the rest of you?"

We looked down and saw that, from the waist down, we were in our birthday suits except for footwear! "EEEEEEEEEKK!" we all shrieked at once, covering ourselves with the pillows on the floor and sitting down immediately!

When I happened to listen to Jimmy right then, I heard him laughing hysterically, so I looked over at him and saw him in a fetal position while kicking his feet wildly and holding his stomach.

"Jimmy, my mom isn't gonna LIKE this!" Carl exclaimed, clearly embarrassed like most of us were.

"Ya know, this is kinda neat! This is just the perfect opportunity for Libby and I to-...," Sheen began, but was interrupted by Libby.

She gasped angrily and scolded, slapping his cheek with the hand that wasn't holding the pillow over herself, "Sheen, you PERVERT! KNOCK it OFF!"

"Neutron," I demanded furiously, "Either get us our clothes RIGHT now or I'm gonna SUE you for everything you own! Why, if I were properly clothed right now, why, I'd knock you SILLY!"

He had stopped laughing long enough to listen to what we had to say, then responded firmly, "Sheen, cut it OUT already! That's _highly_ out of the question! Don't be such a pervert!

"Vortex, just HOLD your horses! I'll get them right away! Goddard, retrieve their articles of clothing, please!" he added, instructing Goddard afterwards.

He barked and rocketed into the tunnel above us, returning after 2 minutes had passed. He then passed them out to each of us, which we immediately put back on, much to our relief.

Then, once I had my clothes back on, I got up and marched over to Jimmy and smacked his face. "THAT was for laughing at our embarrassment, Nerd-tron!" I snapped.

"Chillax, GIRL!" Libby informed me, "He got our clothes back! Isn't THAT what matters most?"

I sighed and admitted, "I guess you're right, Libs."

At that moment, Commander Baker decided to come back to us so he could explain what he wanted from us. He motioned for us to enter the meeting room, which was conveniently right next to the landing room, which had all the pillows in it for a soft landing. We walked in and took our seats at the long table.

Once seated, with Jimmy and I on either side of Baker, he began, "I've brought each of you here for one reason and one reason only..."

"Which is...?" Jimmy questioned with a suspicious look on his face.

"Your mission, Agent Neutron, with all your friends, is to find Jet Fusion. He's gone missing... Again...," Baker informed us.

"What? How could that be?" I gasped in disbelief.

He pressed a button in front of him and a screen lit up behind him, soon displaying the image of Professor Calamitous. "We believe he's been kidnapped by Calamitous and Gorgeous again. Your job is to find Agent Fusion, discover Calamitous' evil plot, put a stop to it, and bring Agent Fusion back unharmed to BTSO. Are you in?"

"It would be my honor, Commander," Jimmy said proudly, his hand on his chest. Then he additionally asked, "Could my friends come with me?"

"Very well. You and new Agent Vortex shall bring them with you," Baker told us, "Just be careful around Calamitous and his evil daughter, okay?"

_Woah!_ I thought, _Agent __Vortex__? Don't I get a say in this mission? The LAST person I'd want to partner with is Nerd-tron! Besides, Jet's Neutron's hero, NOT mine! Why must I be included in this?_

"Whatever...," I muttered, glaring at Jimmy, my arms folded.

"Understood, Commander Baker," Jimmy said respectfully. Then he looked at me rudely and stuck his tongue out at me. I did the same back at him.

"Oh, before you go, you might need this," the commander finished, handing him a keg of plutonium.

"How'd you know my rocket was out of fuel?" Jimmy wanted to know, accepting the plutonium, clearly puzzled.

"I have my ways of knowing things like that," Baker replied coolly, then pressed another button that sent us back to the beach we'd deserted previously.

Jimmy put the plutonium into his rocket, then boarded it with the rest of us and Goddard. He started it up and we were soon on our way to rescue Jet Fusion!


	8. Chapter 8 Getting to the Bottom o Things

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 8: Getting To the Bottom of Things

(Libby's POV)

In order to find out what Calamitous was up to and why he'd captured Jet Fusion, we had to first head back to Jimmy's lab, so that's where we went.

On the way there, Sheen asked for what seemed to be the millionth time, "Are we there yet?"

Trying my hardest to be patient with him, I muttered loudly, "No, we're NOT there yet, Sheen!"

Cindy, on the other hand, threatened him by saying, "Either SHADDUP or I'll clock ya 'till ya reach China!"

"Just chill OUT, Dork-tex!" Jimmy snapped, landing the rocket in his front yard just a short distance from his clubhouse, "We're there, so just be quiet!"

As we got out and followed him to his lab entrance, I saw Cindy rudely mimicking his words with her mouth, a mocking expression on her face. _Girl, will ya EVER grow up?_ I thought begrudgingly to myself, smacking my forehead with my hand. I followed the rest of the group inside, then waited for Neutron to speak.

We didn't have to wait long, cuz he began, taking a seat in front of VOX's screen and typing furiously, "Now, if you guys will just give me 20 minutes, I can figure this out. Just stay out of my way and don't touch anything!"

I looked over at Sheen, and it looked as if he didn't pay the LEAST bit of attention to what Jimmy said. He was too busy picking at a scab on his elbow(eeeww!). I gave him a stern look and suspiciously asked him, "Sheen, did ya pay ANY attention to what Neutron just said?"

He looked around with a glazed look in his eyes, then muttered, "Maybe..."

"Whatever...," I told him, "Just don't touch anything, like he said!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...," Sheen said, waving his hand up and down and rolling his eyes. I could tell he was about to get us into some serious trouble if he messed with one of Jimmy's inventions, so I just smacked his cheek and ordered, "PAY attention!"

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing his cheek, "Libby, easy! Can't ya take a JOKE?"

Cindy gave me a thumbs-up and informed me, "That'll show him, Libs! Way to GO!"

"Well, excuse ME for being bored!" Sheen barked at us, then sat down on the floor.

After about 10 minutes, I think Cindy was starting to get irritated, cuz she snapped at Jimmy, "Ugh, Neutron! HOW long is this gonna take?"

Still typing at his keyboard, he chuckled a bit and remarked, "Jeez, Vortex! You're starting to sound like Sheen!"

Ten minutes after that, he finally finished typing and turned to face us, saying, "Okay, guys, listen up! Here's what I've found out..."


	9. Chapter 9 On 2 Mars! or R We Mistaken?

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 9: On To Mars! ...Or Are We Mistaken?

(Sheen's POV)

"What did ya find out, Neutron?" Libby wanted to know.

"After intense research and investigation, I've discovered that Jet Fusion is located on the fourth celestial body from our orb of electromagnetic radiation," Jimmy told us informatively.

I was honestly confused. "Where?" I wanted to know, baffled beyond belief.

Libby sighed and said patiently, "He's on the fourth planet from our sun, which is Mars, Sheen."

"Oh, okay!" I replied, satisfied.

"But where on Mars IS he?" Cindy impatiently asked him.

"I haven't figured that out yet, Vortex," Jimmy informed her patiently, or, at least, it seemed like it to me. Then he added, "But I'll be able to track him down because he has a homing device embedded in the back of his neck. I can use my watch to do just that! Let's go-...!"

"-to the ROCKET!" I finished for him, punching the air above my head.

Cindy and Libby just rolled their eyes and shook their heads as they joined the rest of us as we climbed into Jimmy's rocket. He started it up and we were soon on our way to Mars!

On our way there, I got to thinking, _What happened to Brobot after we left the Junkman's ship not long ago?_ So I asked Jimmy, "Whatever happened to Brobot just before we landed on that island, Jimmy?"

"I just used my watch to teleport him back to the Moon so he wouldn't hinder our travels and missions," he calmly explained.

"Oh!" I said, then added inquisitively, "What's 'hinder' mean?"

"It means to get in the way of doing something," Jimmy told me.

"Okay," I responded.

After about 10 minutes, however, I got insanely bored. So I asked, annoyed, "Are we THERE yet?"

"Ugh!" Cindy groaned, slapping her forehead, "Ultra-Freak, does it LOOK like we're there?"

I took a look around me, and all I saw were stars and a small red planet in the distance, just ahead of us. "Uuuhh... No," I admitted with a sigh of extreme boredom.

She just stuck her tongue out at me in retaliation.

I did the same back to her.

About 10 more minutes after that, Mars was coming up fast, so we braced ourselves for impact. Within 2 minutes, we'd landed safely on the Martian surface.

We all got out and started to look around.

Then, something in the sky got my attention: 2 weird, potato-shaped space rocks. Then I realized, _Oh, yeah! Those are Mars's moons!_ So I taunted in a sing-song voice, pointing at them, "Mars has tiny moons, and ours is BIGGER!"

Carl must've heard me, cuz he scolded, "Sheen, don't tease the planets!"

Then I looked over at Libby. She did look pretty majestic, with the Martian sun shining on her brilliantly, making her seem to have a halo that surrounded her entire being. In fact, she almost looked angelic, she was so beautiful! I soon found myself staring at her, spellbound by her ultra-beauty. But I didn't care. I could stare at her all day long...

I was pretty sure I could hear her saying, "Sheen... Oh, Sheen..." Then I thought she started to sound a bit rude, saying, "Sheen. SHEEN. Yo, SHEEN!" Then I heard her yell, in a strange, male voice, "Sheen! Hello, Earth to SHEEN! Sheen, snap OUT of it!"

I shook my head violently and snapped out of my trance, discovering that it was actually Jimmy who was calling my name. Then I stammered, "Huh-... Wha-?"

"Sheen," he snapped, "I've been trying to get your attention for the past 5 minutes! What were you staring at?"

"Nothin'...," I told him, then wanted to know, "Where IS everybody?"

"They're out and about looking for Jet Fusion here on Mars! For the ninth time, come help us look for him!" Jimmy commanded, grabbing my wrist and taking me wherever he went.

He pressed a button on his watch and seemed to be trying to use it to find his hero, but having no success.

"Gas planet, he's nowhere ON Mars!" he groaned, attracting the rest of our group's attention.

"What's with all the ruckus, Nerd-tron?" Cindy asked impatiently.

"Yeah!" Libby agreed, "Ya found Fusion yet?"

"No, I haven't! I apparently have miscalculated his location, leading me to Mars when he's nowhere on this planet!" Jimmy groaned, smacking his forehead, "What I also don't get is HOW my data could've misled me!"

"I'm just giving it a wild guess, Neutron, but don't you think someone could've hacked into your files and led you to think Jet Fusion was here on Mars?" Cindy supposed aloud.

"Hmm... For once, you could be right, Vortex," he noted, "This means I need to go BACK to my lab and find out where he really is!" With that, he led us back to his rocket. We climbed back in, he started it up, and we were soon on our way back to his lab, so he could find out where Jet Fusion _really_ was!


	10. Chapter 10 Where He REALLY Is

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 10: Where He _Really_ Is

(Carl's POV)

Once inside his lab, Jimmy immediately began typing furiously at his keyboard, obviously determined to solve this mystery about Jet Fusion's whereabouts.

While he was working, I looked around at my other companions. Sheen just seemed even more bored than he ever had been. He groaned and complained, "Ugh... I'm bored! Entertain me, Cindy."

"How about I instead send you flying to the dark side of the moon?" she threatened, her fist in his face.

"Okay, OKAY! Jeez, Cindy! You win!" Sheen gave in, backing away from her.

"Okay, you 2! I've heard QUITE enough outta y'all!" Libby demanded, separating Sheen and Cindy.

"Well, HE'S the one who was trying to make me entertain him!" Cindy snapped accusingly, pointing at Sheen.

"That's no excuse to threaten him, Cindy!" Libby told her firmly, "Ya already fight on a daily basis with Neutron, which gives me a MAJOR migrane, and I'm not about t' letcha start with Sheen! You just _stay_ away from my Ultra-Hunk!"

I'm pretty sure she found that very amusing, because she immediately began giggling hysterically right after Libby said that. After it died down enough, she gasped, still laughing, "Libby, you could do SO much better than Ultra-Moron! Besides, the 2 of you aren't even really _together_!"

She put her arm around Sheen's shoulder and informed her, "Oh, yes, we are, Cin. That's all I have to say about it."

Right then, I didn't think I could keep my eyes open much longer. So I just laid down where I was and was soon fast asleep.

I wasn't sure how much later it was when I was awakened, but I woke up to Jimmy shaking my shoulder and saying, "Carl, wake up. I finally found out where Jet Fusion really is!"

"Okay," I agreed, rubbing my eyes, and followed him to where the rest of us were gathered in front of his big computer screen.

Jimmy sat back down again and announced, "I've tracked Jet's location to be deep within the forests of Indonesia."

Cindy piped up and asked, "Neutron, who was it that misled you to think he was on Mars?"

"I have a theory, but it's too soon to tell, but I have a hunch that this person is the only one who could've captured Jet," he informed her.

"Who is it, then, Neutron?" Libby wanted to know.

"I believe it's none other than Professor Calamitous," Jimmy told her. Then he added, getting out of his computer chair, "Let's set off for-"

Sheen jumped up and down while begging, "Can I say it, Jimmy? Huh? Huh? Can I? Can I? PLEASE?"

"Fine, go ahead, Sheen," he muttered.

"To the rocket!" Sheen proclaimed, pointing at the sky obscured by Jimmy's lab's ceiling.

We all boarded it, Jimmy started it up, and we were soon on our way to rescuing Jet Fusion!


	11. Chapter 11 Rescuing Jet Fusion 2 parts

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 11(Part 1): Rescuing Jet Fusion

(Jimmy's POV)

"Are we THERE yet?" Sheen complained for the tenth time on our way to Indonesia.

I heard Cindy starting to climb out of her seat in the sidecar to the right of me, but Libby pulled her back in and scolded, "Girl, 2 things: one, we're 1,500 feet above the Earth's surface, and 2, leave Sheen alone! Sure, he's obnoxious and annoying sometimes, but ya can't change that! That's just who he is. Just leave him be, Cin."

Taking her seat again, Cindy muttered, "Okay, _fine_..."

Within 20 minutes, we had landed in a thick, humid, and dim rainforest. I'd found a spot clear enough for me to land my rocket, so I used it because it was easy to see my rocket from up to 100 feet away. "Okay," I told them, "I've placed a homing device on my rocket so it can be located in any event of an emergency. Goddard will display the coordinates on his radar screen. Now, let's focus on finding Jet. Just be careful, cuz you never know how well Calamitous has hidden any traps in the flora of this humid ecosystem. Now, follow me! C'mon, boy!"

Goddard jumped out of the rocket and bounded up to me, sticking with the rest of us as we explored the immensely dense rainforest.

Before long, we heard a splat nearby, so I turned around to see what had happened. I immediately saw that a papaya had landed on Cindy's head and splattered. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I saw the look on her face as she looked upwards to search for what had thrown a papaya on her head. The rest of us looked up, too, and it wasn't long before we spotted the fauna that had done that to her. Screeching far above our head, as if cheering itself on for what it did, was an orangutan!

"AAAUUGH! Stupid APE!" Cindy shouted, shaking her fist at the orangutan and wiping the papaya bits from her head, then stuck her tongue out at it and blew a strawberry.

The deranged ape just screeched again and mimicked her repeatedly.

She shook her fist at it again, yelling, "Stupid APE!" Then she and the rest of us went on our way, ever deeper into the forest.

Even stranger than that deranged ape was an odd clearing in the middle of the rainforest. Stopping the rest of them with my arms extended, I commanded, "Stop right here. It's not common for such a clearing to be in the middle of such an ecosystem. This could be a trap. Stay RIGHT here; I'm going to investigate aerially with Goddard's help. I mean it, Sheen! Goddard, 'chopper mode'."

His ears spinning around like helicopter blades, he took to the air after I grabbed one of his legs. As he flew me over the entire clearing, I observed it carefully to make note of anything out of the ordinary. Then, I saw something unusual: an odd, metal antenna sticking out of the ground with sparks being emitted from the tip, with an identical one just 5 feet away from it!

With that, I flew back to the gang and landed in front of them. Then I informed them anxiously, "Guys, I have located 2 sparking metal antennae sticking out of the ground just over 100 feet from our location, the work of Calamitous, no doubt! Back to my rocket!"

We then followed Goddard back to the rocket and climbed aboard it. Then I flew us back over the clearing to where the strange antennae were, then placed my rocket in "hover mode" so I could examine and deactivate them. I used my swiss army laser to slice them in half, thus deactivating them. I then flew back up 20 feet into the air, waiting to see what would happen.

We didn't have to wait long, because an automated door opened and brought up none other than Jet fusion, tied up and gagged in a deactivated electric chair. A short distance from him at a control panel of some sort was Calamitous!

"Stop RIGHT there, Professor Finbarr Calamitous!" I ordered, landing my rocket nearby and marching up to him.

"You're too late, Neutron! Once I press this button, your friend here will be electrocuted fatally!" he cackled maniacally.

"Oh, _yeah?_" Sheen taunted, blowing a strawberry at him.

"YEAH!" Calamitous fumed, holding his hand over the button.

"Not if I can help it!" I exclaimed, running up to a wire mass I saw between the chair and control panel and using my swiss army laser to cut it in half.

"NNNOOOOOO!" he shrieked, "My plan, my BEAUTIFUL plan, RUINED! You're gonna PAY for this, Neutron!"

"Oh? I don't think so. Carl, Sheen, untie and ungag Fusion and tie and gag Calamitous!" I instructed my friends.

As we ran back to my rocket, Carl and Sheen tied and gagged Calamitous, then ran back to the rocket, and as I started it up and lifted it off the ground, I heard muffled shouts from him that I couldn't comprehend, but at the time, I didn't care. I just had Fusion follow me back to BTSO in the US while using his rocket-powered shoes to follow us.

Once there, we all went back inside to find Commander Baker waiting for us. "Well done, Agent Neutron. Great to have you back, Agent Fusion," he told us, shaking Fusion's hand.

"It's great to be back, Commander. That Calamitous never gives up, does he?" Fusion replied.

"No, he does not, and I'm glad you're safe again in the hands of BTSO, Jet. It was my pleasure, Commander Baker," I told them, satisfied with my successful mission.

With that, Baker transported us back to Retroville with the touch of a button. We all carried on with our normal lives, content that all was well in our hometown and that nothing at all would be out of the ordinary again, at least, for the time being. Little did we know at the time how wrong we were...

(Part 2)

About 6 months went by without anything seeming insanely unusual. But, as time went by, I noticed a change in Cindy and Libby's appearances. Nothing changed except the size of their stomachs, which I assumed at first was the result of some odd weight gain, nothing more.

One day during that length of time, Cindy and I were in yet another argument about random scientific facts, again...

"I'm telling you, Vortex, phytoplankton are eaten by zooplankton, NOT minnows or anchovies!" I haplessly argued, pointing at her face.

"And for the last time, I do not CARE! Do I _look_ like I do?" she spat at me.

"Uuhhh... No," Sheen put in out of nowhere.

"Shaddup, Ultra-Dweeb!" Cindy barked, then turned to face me again with a furious look on her face.

"Ugh... What do I care?" I groaned angrily, slapping my forehead, "Just leave me alone with your stupid bicker-!" Then I noticed something unusual about Cindy and commented inquisitively, "Uh, Vortex? Did your stomach just... MOVE?"

She looked down and saw that there was indeed movement in her protruding abdominal cavity. "Oh, my GOSH! I thought it was just indigestion and a bit of weight gain, but it just CAN'T be what I believe it is!"

"Can't be what WHAT is, Cindy?" Libby asked her, walking up to us, displaying similar weight gain on her part.

"Libs, do ya think this is normal for our age?" she wanted to know.

"Definitely NOT," her friend responded, "And we seem to be experiencing the same thing, girl!"

"Oh, GREAT! Neutron, there must be SOME explanation for this unusual phenomenon! Take us to your lab, now!" Cindy demanded, grabbing my hand and taking me over to my lab's entrance, soon followed by Libby, Sheen, and Carl.

I gave in and let them in. I ran some scans on both Cindy and Libby and, a few minutes later, found some results that were _anything_ but normal...


	12. Chapter 12 Drawing Conclusions

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 12: Drawing Conclusions

(Cindy's POV)

"So, what are ya saying, Neutron?" I wanted to know, annoyed.

"Do you 2 not see what's displayed upon VOX's screen?" he snapped, gesturing towards the screen behind him, "You're each harboring a future generation in the making!"

Libs and I both looked at the screen and gasped; we saw that the scans Jimmy had made on us revealed that there was a developing child within both of us! Luckily, this was happening when I was 17 and Libby was 18, so we were more prepared to have a child than we would be if we were 14 or even younger!

After I regained my composure a few minutes later, I demanded of him, "C'mon, there's gotta be SOME explanation for these unexpected pregnancies of ours, Neutron!"

"Okay, okay!" Jimmy gave in, "We should probably take a recap of what's happened in the past 6 months, starting with the Jet Fusion rescue mission and what happened before we met Commander Baker."

"You're right, Nerd-tron," I noted, "Remember, we'd landed on that island we were stranded on when you and I were only 11, and we'd started to explore and search for food while I'd lagged behind you guys. Then I suddenly fell into a hole, and halfway down, I felt a strange, uncomfortable breeze on the lower half of my body, then landed in a very dark room padded with pillows. I'd landed on my stomach, but I found that uncomfortable, so I turned over to be on my back."

"Oh, yeah!" he recalled, "I remember that happening to me, too! And I think I remember landing on top of someone while on my stomach..."

"That was me you landed on, Freak Brain," I informed him firmly.

"I figured that... Don't you remember that strange sensation right after we'd landed on eachother? It only lasted a few seconds, but I think that was enough for you to conceive. That was when you pushed me off, then moved out of the way as Sheen, Libby, and Carl joined us. I couldn't see even the hands in front of my face, but I could tell by my hearing that the same thing must've happened to Sheen and Libby."

"Oh, yeah! I remember that!" Sheen pointed out, "I immediately started to enjoy myself, but Libby pushed me off of her. Then we moved out of the way as Carl landed in that dark room with us, then Goddard followed."

"That must've been when I conceived, too," Libby recalled, "Then Commander Baker spoke up."

I just chuckled to myself as I remembered the look on Jimmy's face when he found out he wasn't wearing anything from the waist down except for shoes. Then I couldn't hold it in anymore, because I burst out laughing like crazy.

"Oh, you think that's pretty funny, don't you, Dork-tex?" Jimmy snarled, marching right up to me.

"Uh, YEAH!" I told him, mimicking his facial expression from 6 months ago.

Then he too started laughing to himself, trying to hide it from me, as I'm sure he was realizing how ridiculous he must've looked with that expression on his face. A few moments later, he also burst out into hysterical laughter, I soon joining him almost immediately.

But our enjoyment was short-lived, because an alarm resounded on his main computer screen, clearly signifying trouble in Retroville.

He regained his composure quickly and groaned, slapping his forehead, taking a seat in front of VOX, and typing furiously, "What's the problem NOW?"

A few minutes later, something appeared on his screen that turned his frustration into fear in a split second...


	13. Chapter 13 Trouble In Our Midst

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 13: Trouble In Our Midst...

(Libby's POV)

I saw that shocked look on Neutron's face and asked, "What's so shocking, Neutron?"

After typing a few more moments, Jimmy fearfully replied, "Calamitous and Gorgeous have escaped from jail! There's no telling what havoc they're capable of wreaking on the entirety of Retroville, and eventually, the world! We need to find out where they are and discover what sort of plot they're planning to unfold in the near future! Let's go!"

Sheen, being the immature guy that he was, even though just a BIT more mature than at age 12, excitedly proclaimed, "To the rocket!"

_Somethin' tells me we shoulda found out what their plan was before we started to actually search fo' 'em...,_ I thought begrudgingly to myself as we climbed into his rocket and blasted off. It wasn't long before we began our search for them, starting in the closest place they could be: in suburban Retroville.

We all got out of the rocket and Cindy asked, "Now what should we do, Neutron?"

"We should try to find a way in...," he told us thoughtfully, looking around some for a few moments to search for a panel or pressure plate that could let us in somehow.

"Who knows? We COULD be here awhile...," Sheen muttered, still having the same short attention span as he did in the past.

Then he apparently saw something, because he instructed, "Watch this!" He pressed the unobvious pressure plate on the wall of the house and an automatic door opened up in the ground next to the house that led via a diagonal, metal passage to the interior of the lair.

"This looks like fun! BANZAI!" Sheen immediately hollered as he slid down the passage into the lair. Once there, he hollered again, "C'mon, guys! Whatcha waitin' for?"

Jimmy just shrugged and muttered, "Ah, what the heck?" Then he slid down shortly after Sheen did, exclaiming, "Yaa-HOOO!"

"I'm next!" Cindy said, and slid down after him, shouting, "WHEEEE!"

"Right behind ya!" I yelled excitedly, and slid down, too, yelling out of pleasure, "Waaa-HOOO!"

"Wait for me!" Carl hollered, and was the last to slide down the passage.

Once we all got to our feet, I asked, "See anything, Neutron?"

"Nothing aside from his numerous old inventions," he observed.

"Wow, they must be somewhere else, then," I heard Cindy mutter. Then she started giggling a bit, saying, motioning for Jimmy to approach her and one of her hands on her slightly protruding stomach, "Hee, hee! I feel movement!"

"What is it, Vortex?" Jimmy began to ask, then exclaimed, placing his hand on her stomach with her permission, "He or she's moving? Wow!"

"Yep, that's the miracle of life for ya right there! That's our child, Neutron! Isn't it exciting?" she informed him excitedly.

"Yes, it is! I guess the most embarrassing accidents turn out to be the greatest blessings in life!" he told her gladly.

"Yes, I agree," I put in, feeling movement in my stomach, as well, "It IS a wonderful gift, but we need to focus on why we originally came here."

"Libby brings up a good point," Jimmy added firmly, "We need to find out where Calamitous and Gorgeous are hiding, and they're not here, so let's get going!" With that, he pressed a button on his watch and we were all teleported back to his rocket. We all got in and blasted off again.

While on our way to our next destination, Cindy suggested, "Couldn't you use your radar screen to search for them so we'd find them quicker, Neutron?"

"Great idea, Cindy! I don't know WHY this didn't occur to me before," Jimmy complimented her, then used his radar screen to do just that.

Then he muttered, "Just as I thought!"

"Where are they, Jim?" Carl wanted to know.

"Just where they were 6 years ago when we had to rescue Jet Fusion: the Himalayas of Asia!" Jimmy informed us.

"They're with a bunch of Asian cats?" Sheen guessed dim-wittedly.

"No, Ultra-DORK!" Cindy snapped, "The largest mountain range in the world, where Mount Everest is!"

"Sheen," I told him firmly, "Just shut up, okay?"

"Sorry," he said as we closed in on the Himalayas...


	14. Chapter 14 The Journey Eastward

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 14: The Journey Eastward

(Sheen's POV)

As we traveled east towards, whatever that place is called, I got insanely bored, even at age 18. "DANG IT!" I complained after 30 minutes had gone by, "How much LONGER?"

"For the _last_ time, Ultra-Dork, SHUT UP!" Cindy snapped at me, then muttered, "Dang, I'm sure craving some pickles and ice cream..."

That sounded disgusting even to me, who absolutely loved ice cream, and informed her, "Okay, that's nasty!"

"Deal with it, ya moron...," she sharply told me.

"That's quite enough outta you 2, Sheen, Vortex...," Jimmy scolded us while keeping his focus on what was directly in front of him.

"Sorry, Jimmy./Whatever, Neutron...," we told him in unison.

Then Libby said, covering her mouth, "I think some of that nausea is still hangin' on from the first trimester..." Then she leaned over the side of the rocket to her right and barfed, again.

"Yeah, I noticed," Carl put in, looking behind him at her.

Cindy looked to her right and asked her, "Are you okay, Libs?"

"Yeah, I think so...," she managed to say when she was finished.

After yet another 5 minutes had passed, I was STILL bored to the extreme! So I griped, "GAH! I am _SSSOOOO _bored! Jeez!" Then I looked over to my right at Carl and saw that the dude had fell asleep, snoring loudly. Then, another 10 minutes later, I found my boredom too much for me, so I fell asleep right then on the spot.

We both woke up suddenly when something large hit the rocket from out of nowhere!

"Jimmy, what's HAPPENING?" Carl shrieked as the rocket began to shake uncontrollably.

"That missile has been following us ever since we began to pass over the Himalayas! I've been trying to avoid it, but it kept following us for the past 2 hours! Now we're out of fuel, and it's finally hit us! Hang on as we plummet into the Indonesian rainforest!" Jimmy exclaimed fearfully, trying to steer his rocket into a clearing so it wouldn't get too damaged by the landing.

We hit the rainforest floor some 20 seconds later.

As we crawled out, he wanted to know, "Is everybody okay?"

"Ow, my scapula!" Carl moaned, rubbing his back.

"I think so, Neutron...," Cindy muttered, looking over at Libby as she crawled away from the rocket, "You okay, Libby?"

Rising to her feet, she responded, "Yeah, I'm fine, Cin."

"I'm fine, in case anyone was wondering!" I snapped, my arms folded after I'd risen to my feet.

"Are you okay, Sheen?" Libby asked me worriedly.

"I just said I was fine, Libby-licious!" I informed her.

"Don't call me that!" she hissed.

"Sorry," I muttered under my breath.

"Hey, I was just kiddin'! Sheen, you can call me whatever ya like, cuz we're together as a couple!" Libby teased me, nudging me playfully.

"Oh, yeah!" I realized, then wanted to know, "I forget. Are you and Cindy a couple yet, Jimmy?"

"Uuuhh... Heh-heh, um, NO!" he replied hesitantly, laughing nervously.

"Um, yeah! What he said!" Cindy put in supportively, though hesitantly.

"Hmmmm... Somethin' tells me you ARE...," I told them, a suspicious look on my face.

"I think he's right, you 2," Libby said, looking at both Jimmy and Cindy and glaring at them.

"If you aren't a couple, then why are you always flirting with eachother, writing eachother love notes, sitting together at lunch, constantly texting or calling eachother, and making out when you're alone?" Carl asked suspiciously.

"I guess we've been found out, Cin," Jimmy informed her, blushing deeply.

"So much for hiding it!" Cindy admitted with a sigh.

It looked like Libby had some sense, cuz she reminded us, "Are y'all forgettin' where we've landed?"

Quickly getting to his senses, he cleared his throat and announced, "I'd better check the rocket for damage. We _could_ be here a while if it's bad..." He then checked it for any damage. He apparently came upon some major damage, cuz he told us, "When the missile hit my rocket, it sustained major damage to its exterior and some of its interior. It looks like we're stranded here until I can find a way to fix that and find some alternative fuel that'll get us to the Himalayas, then later to back to Retroville."

Boy, were we in for a big adventure there or what!


	15. Chapter 15 Trying to Survive the Jungle

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 15: Trying To Survive the Jungle

(Carl's POV)

"Oh, GREAT!" Cindy groaned, "If I'm not back by 5pm, my mom is gonna KILL me!"

"What is it, Cin?" Libby wanted to know.

"Ugh... I'm gonna miss my piano recital if I don't make it back home by 5!" she snapped, utterly annoyed with herself.

"Cindy," Jimmy firmly told her, "Our only transportation is heavily damaged, and we're halfway around the world, 12 time zones ahead. We may never get back if we don't act now!"

"So, what are we supposed to do, Jimmy?" I asked him nervously.

Ever the impatient guy, Sheen interrupted by saying, "We should get on the monkeys' good side so the monkey god will be pleased and help us get back!"

"Oh, PLEASE! What good is that gonna do, Ultra-Freak? There's no such _thing_ in the first place!" Cindy barked at him, highly annoyed with him.

As if on cue, Sheen started acting all monkey-like, screeching like crazy while trying to get their attention and dancing funny.

"Libs, control your boyfriend, PLEASE!" she urged her friend.

Libby walked up to him and grabbed his wrist while saying sternly, "Sheen, would ya knock it off, please?"

"Sorry," he muttered under his breath.

"That was creeping me out, anyway, Sheen," I put in, my arms folded.

"Guys, focus!" Jimmy urgently informed us, "While we're here, we might as well set up camp. I can tell we're gonna be here for quite a while." With that, he pulled out his hypercube-thing and pressed a button on it, sending out a bunch of camping stuff, food, and extra clothes. Then he added, "Always be prepared for any eventuality!"

"Let's just hope the monkeys don't get our food, Neutron," Libby said, a worried look on her face.

"Don't worry! I've coated with an edible spray that we like and we can eat but the native fauna won't be able to and will hate it from the start. And no, Carl, it's nothing you're allergic to," Jimmy additionally told us.

"Whew!" I breathed with a sigh of relief, wiping my brow.

"Besides, if they DO try to get it, Goddard will scare them off!" he said.

"That's great an' all, Neutron, but it is SO humid here, and it's not doin' my skin any favors! I feel like I need to to go take a dip somewhere...," Libby sighed, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand and looking around.

"Wait a minute! Is that a waterfall somewhere nearby, Jimmy?" Cindy gasped, putting a hand to her ear.

After listening himself for a few moments, he exclaimed, "Leapin' leptons, it IS a waterfall, and where there's a waterfall, there's bound to be a lake underneath it! C'mon, guys!" He then led us, following the sound, to where the water source originated, just several hundred feet away from camp.

Then Cindy protested once we were there, "Um, what exactly are we supposed to wear? None of us brought swimsuits!"

"NO problem!" Sheen proclaimed excitedly, and ran behind some shrubs and trees nearby. We heard some rapid rustling in the brush, then saw him run up an inclined rock that jutted out a few feet over the lake, and he yelled, jumping into the lake in a "cannonball", "BANZAI!"

The splash from his dive got all of us soaked to the quick, triggering Cindy to holler angrily at him, "Hey, WATCH it, Ultra-DORK! We're soaking WET!"

"Then ya might as well come in! Besides, it's really hot and humid out, so let's take a refreshing dip, shall we?" he yelled back at her after he'd resurfaced.

"Sheen, are you NUTS? No! Are ya even _wearing_ anything?" Jimmy shouted at him.

"No," he replied, "Just c'mon already! Or are you guys just 'chicken'? _Bawk, bawk, bawk, buck-__awk__!_"

"Grrrrr! I'll show YOU I'm not 'chicken'!" Cindy growled furiously, and did exactly as Sheen did a few minutes before, making a large splash, as well.

"Girl, you're crazy!" Libby shouted at her, then thought to herself some. Then she shrugged and muttered, "Ah, what the heck? Hold on! I'll be in in a minute!" A few minutes later, she too jumped off of the rock and into the water with Sheen and Cindy.

"Wait for me!" I hollered, and mimicked the others' actions several minutes before. Then I ran breathlessly and jumped off the rock into the lake, as well. After I resurfaced, I muttered, "Ow, my scapula..."

We looked to the shore again and saw that Jimmy was by himself, fanning himself with Goddard's assistance. Then I called after him, "Aren't ya coming, Jim?"

"If you think I'm insane enough to perform such an inane stunt-," he started to snap, but only to have Cindy playfully snap back at him, "Jeez, Neutron, are you gonna do it or are ya just gonna be '_chicken_' about it?" She then proceeded to make squawking noises about the whole matter.

I could tell that made him pretty annoyed, because he firmly responded, "Okay, okay, ENOUGH of that! Fine, I'll do it!" Then he walked into the brush and came running out in the buff a few minutes later and jumped into the lake with us.

After he'd surfaced, Sheen asked us, "Now, doesn't this feel refreshing compared to the hot, hot air?"

"Yes, it does, but if my mom knew I was skinny-dipping with boys my age, she'd have a FIT!" Cindy put in. I could tell she was kinda nervous when she said that.

"I do admit; this IS rather refreshing, but we need to focus on what we need to do here. There's no telling what Calamitous and Gorgeous are up to by now...," Jimmy informed us firmly.

"Well, Cindy's the one who brought it up," Sheen told us, trying to be helpful, "The lake, that is."

"Wha-?" she started to hiss at him, then admitted, "That _is_ true..."

"Yeah," Libby agreed.

Then, suddenly, some screeching was heard from a short distance from the shore.

"I _know_ that noise!" Cindy exclaimed, then pointed into the jungle ahead of us with her hand shaking, "M-M-M-Monkeys!" She then ducked under the water until only her nose, eyes, and hair were visible.

Shading his eyes and squinting, Jimmy muttered, "They're not doing what I think they're doing, are they?"

"I hope not, Jimmy! Hey, is that my shirt?" Sheen exclaimed, pointing at one of them making off with it.

"And are those my JEANS? Those are _designer jeans_ they're making off with!" Libby shrieked in shock.

"I'm glad it's just us here...," Cindy muttered, "I'd be utterly HUMILIATED if any of our friends saw us here!" Then she shouted, "Get those MONKEYS!"

Seethingly mad for the first time in my life, I ordered, "CHAAAAAARRRGE!"

"After them!" Jimmy demanded, charging after them with us swiftly following close behind him and Goddard.


	16. Chapter 16 Humid Ecosystem Adaptation

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 16: Adaptation to This Humid Ecosystem...

(Jimmy's POV)

_This has GOT to be the most humiliating experience I've ever been through...,_ I begrudgingly thought to myself as we ran in hot pursuit of those monkeys that stole our stuff.

One of them stopped long enough to mock us by blowing a strawberry at us, then ran ahead and joined his buddies again. I couldn't help but notice that he was wearing my red t-shirt backwards.

Cindy just blew one back at him as we continued to pursue them, though not without some of us gasping for breath as we ran.

"Uh, Jimmy?" Carl gasped, "Can we stop for a minute? My legs are chafing, and I need OXYGEN!"

I stopped long enough to respond back and say, "Carl, you're letting them get away! C'mon!" With that, I started running after those monkeys again.

Out of the blue, Cindy cracked, "Neutron, isn't that big head of yours getting rather heavy?"

"Cindy, aren't you getting a little old for that particular type of taunting?" I wanted to know, getting just a _tad_ out of breath.

"Oh, yeah...," she muttered, "Not that good for a relationship like ours..."

Then I added just to tease her playfully, "Isn't that stomach of yours getting just a TAD heavy for ya?"

"Oh, Jimmy, you're such a kidder!" Cindy replied, giggling.

"Uh, guys? I don't know about you, but I can't see OR hear the monkeys anymore...," Sheen put in breathlessly, catching his breath.

The rest of us stopped with him, as well, to catch our breath, too.

"I think Sheen's right," Libby pointed out, just barely gasping for breath, "I can't see or hear them, either..."

"Neither can I...," I mused, "We might as well give up on the chase."

Finally catching his breath, Carl added, "Besides, didn't you bring some spare clothes in that infinite-space-thingy of yours along with the camping stuff?"

"Hey, you're right!" I noticed approvingly, "Carl, you're a genius!"

"But I thought they made us hot in this jungle, Neutron," Libby reminded us as we headed back to camp.

"Good point," I noted, then turned to Goddard and asked, "Goddard, what's the temperature?"

He then displayed on his screen: "115°F."

"Holy Heisenberg!" I exclaimed, "No wonder we feel just fine now! We'll save them for when my rocket's fixed and we head for Mt. Everest."

"Good idea, but what should we do for now?" Cindy wanted to know.

"I believe, as to avoid overheating ourselves, we should just stay the way we are. But if you don't feel comfortable doing that, you're all welcome to make yourself something out of the native flora to cover yourselves up. I prefer the latter to the second option, though. Too much needlework for me," I told them informatively.

"Well, not fo' us! C'mon, Cin! We've got some sewin' t' do!" Libby said, grabbing Cindy's arm and leading her into the forest about 50 feet away from us.

As for me, I immediately began work on my wrecked rocket with Goddard's help. Carl and Sheen weren't far off, arguing about who knows what.

Some 30 minutes later, Cindy and Libby emerged from the jungle flora wearing some garments created from the jungle's mega-flora. "So, what do ya think, Jimmy?" Cindy wanted to know, striking a fashion model pose, just as Libby was.

I took one look at her and gasped, "Cindy, you look so... FABULOUS!"

Then Libby hollered to Sheen, snapping her fingers to get his attention, "Oh, _Sheen!_"

"Yeah?" he questioned, turning around, then really looked at her and exclaimed, "Whoa, BABY! I sure got me some _hot tamales_ right there!"

"I think Elkie would look equally as hot in that outfit!" Carl shyly interjected, looking at his feet. I was pretty sure he was picturing his Swedish friend in the same outfit as Cindy and Libby. Surprisingly, he was a lot slimmer at age 17 than at 11.

The 2 girls then snapped their fingers at us again to grab our attention with Cindy snapping at us, "Hey! _Pay_ attention, all 3 of you!"

We shook our heads vigorously and returned to reality. Then I inquired, "What is it, ladies?"

"We made some stuff for you boys, too," Libby informed us, and brought out some handmade garments they made for us, similar to what they wore, only they were more masculine and didn't include the upper half they were wearing.

"How do we know whose is whose?" Carl asked.

"Simple. We wove each of your first and last initials into the belt portion of these loincloths," Cindy explained helpfully, "Plus, they should all fit securely around your waistline and cover you up decently without riding up or sliding down or off of you."

"Gee, thanks, ladies!" I thanked them with Carl and Sheen voicing generally the same thing, "That was very thoughtful of you!" Without another thought, we slipped the garments on without any problems.

Then, as a token of thanks, I gave Cindy a brief kiss on her lips, after which, she just blushed and said softly, "Thanks, Jimmy."

Little did we know we were being watched...


	17. Chapter 17 Defending Ourselves

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 17: Defending Ourselves

(Cindy's POV)

Right at that moment, we heard some rustling in the foliage, though it was somewhat distant from us.

"J-J-J-Jimmy, what's that n-n-noise?" Carl stammered nervously, pointing a shaking finger where the noise was coming from.

"I have no idea!" he cautioned, "But be warned, and watch out for its claws, fangs, spikes, or horns, if it has any!"

The source of the sound came ever closer to us, cautiously approaching us foot by foot.

While Carl and Sheen were shaking with fear, Libby and I took up tai-kwon-do poses and prepared to attack. That was when the creature emerged from the shadows.

"Calm down, guys! He's completely harmless!" Jimmy reassured us, "It's only a ring-tailed lemur!"

All 4 of us then relaxed, seeing that this creature was perfectly harmless.

Then we heard some more rustling in the foliage, but it didn't sound friendly. The noise became louder and faster the closer it got to us, making the lemur dart back into the jungle. "Yipes!" I squealed, tightly embracing Jimmy who immediately returned the favor, "I hope it's not a tiger!"

"I hope not, too, Cindy!" he exclaimed fearfully, his teeth faintly chattering.

The sound approached us faster and faster until the creature that made it lept into view. It was none other than a ferocious Malaysian tiger!

With that, Jimmy commanded Goddard, "Goddard, prepare for attack mode!" He barked and his ion-blaster popped out of his back hatch, armed and ready to fire at the appropriate command from his master. Right then, the tiger let out an ear-splitting roar that seemed to shake the very ground we were standing on. Carl and Sheen ran and hid behind the rocket to try to evade the ferocious beast. Then the tiger leaned backward and prepared to pounce on us at any given moment. "That does it!" Jimmy muttered, then ordered, "Goddard, hit him with an ion blast!"

Goddard barked and did just that. The blast hit it and seemed to physically paralyze it from head to toe, then it tipped over to its side and fell unconscious.

Carl and Sheen emerged from behind the rocket and soon rejoined us, breathing a sigh of relief. Then Carl, the ever-concerned animal-lover, asked, "The tiger's not hurt, is he?"

"Not at all, Carl! The ion blast he received will keep him knocked out for 5 to 6 hours," Jimmy calmly exclaimed, getting his hypno-ray out of his hypercube. Then he commanded, aiming it at the tiger after activating it, "You will NEVER again hunt or harm any humans!"

Then, suddenly, some war-like rants faintly came upon our ears, though they got closer every second, in some language we couldn't understand. Once again, Sheen and Carl just stood there shaking while Libby and I took up tai-kwon-do poses to try to defend ourselves.

Right then, for some weird reason, Sheen started doing this bizzarre dance, probably based off of some lame UltraLord episode he'd seen, no doubt...

Jimmy just rolled his eyes and told him, "Sheen, I don't really think that this dance is gonna keep these natives from attacking us."

"Can so! I saw this dance on UltraLord episode 325: Attack of the Barbaric Cyborgs! Watch!" Sheen sharply informed him, and continued his weird dance for several more minutes.

Carl just slapped his forehead and shook his head, muttering, "We're doomed..."

Then Libby walked over to him and scolded, "Sheen, this is useless! Now cut it out before we get attacked or somethin'!"

"My queen is chagrined? What must I do to please you?" he pleaded with her.

"Just stop doin' that weird dance already!" she snapped, then looked over towards the jungle and saw several sets of piercing, evil-looking eyes that seemed to staring right through her and the rest of us, then yelped, "YIKES! Let's get outta here!"

"Guys, relax! I have it handled!" Jimmy consoled us, then told Goddard, "Go get some water and splash it on the tiger, and hurry!"

He barked and went to get some, then soon returned to us and sprayed the tiger with it.

Jimmy then gulped and exclaimed, "I hope the hypnosis worked on him!"

The tiger woke up abruptly, but as Jimmy had hoped, began to stretch and clean itself instead of attacking us. "Whew, what a relief!" Carl breathed, wiping his brow.

Right at that moment, the natives emerged from the shadows and prepared their weapons for attack. By then, we'd named the tiger Sheer-Khan. I'd chosen the name myself. Jimmy grabbed his hypno-ray and zapped him again, saying, "I command you to always stand guard and protect us from the native tribes until we leave Indonesia!" Then he embedded a special tablet into a piece of meat and tossed it to him, instructing him, "Here, have a snack!"

He immediately began chowing down on it, then a strange look in his eyes seemed to tell us that he suddenly understood everything that was said, and faced the natives with a fierce look on his face. He then let out a deafening roar that scared the wits out of the natives, who let out cries of fear and left us alone.

Suddenly, he spoke words we could understand and said, "That takes care of them!"

We just stood there, speechless, astounded that this tiger just SPOKE to us! Then I asked Jimmy, "What did you feed this tiger, Sheer-Khan?"

"Just a slab of meat, is all."

"I mean besides that!" I argued.

"I gave Sheer-Khan a capsule that gave him the ability to speak and understand us," he calmly replied.

"Yay! Now we have a tiger on our side!" Carl cheered.

"'Sheer-Khan'... I like that name," he informed us.

"So it shall be," I said confidently.

That was when we set up our camping gear and got settled in. Sheer-Khan laid a short distance away to guard the camp against invaders. Boy, would we need his assistance in the coming weeks...!


	18. Chapter 18 The Days Roll By

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 18: The Days Roll By...

(Libby's POV)

We spent the rest of that day attending to camp-related activities, like tending the fire and setting up living quarters, none of which could be achieved without Jimmy's help because it was all mainly his stuff he brought. All that work basically wore us out, especially Cindy and me, cuz we were both carrying children. We were asleep within 10 minutes of our returning to bed that night.

The next morning, we each got up according to each of our own mindsets. I was up first around 6:30am, mainly cuz my child kept wiggling in the night and waking me up, and I finally woke up at that time and couldn't get back to sleep.

We had set up camp inside the abandoned cave, complete with electrical lighting, plumbing, and modern conveniences, thanks to Jimmy and some new invention of his. I sat up in my bed and stretched, then quietly made my way to the refrigerator(YES, an actual working refrigerator) to find some breakfast. I looked through the stuff and found microwaveable breakfast meals stashed in there, so I grabbed one and stuck it in the microwave after removing the covering. I then set it to heat for 3 minutes and waited.

While I was waiting, I heard someone get up, so I turned my head in that direction. It was Carl. He stretched and said, "'Morning, Libby. Sleep good?"

"Hey, Carl," I quietly replied as to not disturb the others, "Ugh, I tossed and TURNED last night... My child kept wiggling and wakin' me up! I just now got up, cuz I couldn't sleep anymore. Help yo'self t' one of the meals in the fridge. Why are you up so early?"

"Sheen's snoring and sleep-talking about UltraLord kept me up until 1:30 in the morning!" Carl griped, giggling quietly, "I'm surprised Jimmy slept through all that!"

"Yeah, he seems to be quite a heavy sleeper...," I agreed, nodding.

After our meals were heated, we sat at the nearby table and began eating.

Later, we each did our own things; Carl drew pictures while I listened to my music for a while.

After a while, I looked at the time on my watch I'd received for graduation and noticed it was 8:45am, about time our friends got up. I was about to get up and try to get Cindy up when I saw her stir in her bed, sit up, and stretch, careful not to wake Jimmy up, who I'd noticed she'd slept next to, like I'd slept next to Sheen. She then quietly got out of bed and made her way to the fridge for something to eat. "Mornin', Cin. Sleep well?" I greeted her.

"Yeah, I did, despite Jimmy's noticeable yet moderately quiet snoring, heh, heh! How long have you been up?" she replied.

"Since 6:30 this mornin'...," I told her with an exhausted sigh, "My child kept me up ALL night with his/her persistent wiggling! I finally couldn't get back to sleep after 6:30, so I went ahead and got up."

"And Sheen kept me up until 1:30 in the morning with his loud snoring and sleep-talking about UltraLord!" Carl interjected, yawning deeply.

"What else do ya expect from an Ultra-Dweeb like him?" Cindy sarcastically commented, rolling her eyes as she ate her breakfast. Then she added, giggling softly and pointing, "Look, he's _still_ doing it!"

After she'd finished, she decided to practice some yoga techniques to pass the time.

About 2 hours later, Sheen finally decided to get up, sitting up with a yawn and stretching. "Hey, sweetie! Did ya sleep good?" I asked him.

"Did I EVER! I had the COOLEST UltraLord dream last night! It all started like-," he began, but didn't get to finish because Cindy snapped, "Can it, Ultra-DORK!"

"Sssshhh, Cindy!" I gently scolded her, "You're gonna wake Neutron up!"

But I spoke too soon, because he soon sat up in bed, stretched, and got up.

"'Bout time you got up, sleepyhead!" Cindy playfully teased him.

"Oh, Cindy, you're such a kidder! Let me sleep in a bit longer next time, okay, sweetie?" Jimmy told her, grabbing something from the fridge and sticking it in the microwave for around 3 minutes.

I glanced over near the entrance of the cave and saw Sheer-Kahn at his post, snoozing away. "Looks like Sheer-Kahn hasn't budged from his post since last night...," I observed.

He just rolled his eyes with a chuckle and informed me, "Being a nocturnal mammal, he's mainly out during the night, hunting the local native fauna to maintain his physical well-being. We best not disturb his rest, and wait for him to awaken naturally."

"Yeah, okay," we told him in unison.

Once he'd finished, he went further into the cave to an area he'd created to suffice for his lab, which he wasn't able to access at the time.

"What are you making, Jim?" Carl asked him.

"You'll see, Carl, and the rest of you!" he promised us.

And we did. When Jimmy returned to us about an hour or 2 later, he had some sort of spray bottle with him.

"What is that, Jimmy?" Cindy wanted to know.

"This spray makes whatever we're wearing long-lasting and waterproof, so we don't have to worry about them floating to the surface of the water when we go swimming. I've already applied it to mine, so stand still so I can spray the rest of yours. Actually, I need to have them off of you so I don't get any of the spray on you, which dries instantly, so let's head to the lake," he explained, ushering us out while making sure we didn't wake Sheer-Kahn up.

"Okay, Neutron, we're here, so now what do we do?" I questioned suspiciously.

"Just get in the water and follow my instructions afterward, okay?" he instructed us.

We all nodded and waded in up to our shoulders.

"Now, while still in the water, take them off and toss them to me," Jimmy said while standing behind a waist-high rock to use as a table. Almost immediately, we followed his instructions precisely. Then he added, proceeding to spray each of them, "Thank you!"

He was finished within 10 minutes, then laid them on the shore and turned his back to us, saying, "You may come get your cover-ups now. I won't look."

One by one, we each got our cover-ups and slipped them back on, confident they'd last until we needed to head to the Himalayas after Jimmy'd fixed his rocket.


	19. Chapter 19 The Chemical Accident

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 19: The Chemical Accident

(Sheen's POV)

Over the next couple weeks, we carried out our daily lives, even though that meant living in a souped-up cave with a tiger to guard us. Personally, though, I was beginning to highly enjoy our new wardrobe, and as can be imagined, it gave me more temptations than when I'm wearing my usual outfit. And I almost gave into one of them once, even though Libby was already with child. On that same day, when Jimmy seemed to be half done with fixing his rocket, an uneasiness fell upon us, as if we were being watched, again.

But it wasn't like that when the day began.

I was fast asleep, unaware that it was late in the morning, when I felt something wet being poured on me. I woke up immediately, sat up, and demanded, "Okay, who's the moron who just splashed me?"

All hands pointed to Cindy, who had an annoyed expression on her face and an empty bucket in one hand. Then she protested, "I only did that because I was told to! It's 11:30 in the morning, Ultra-Freak!"

"Okay, FINE! Jeez!" I remarked sharply, getting out of bed, then muttered to myself, "Sheesh, SOMEbody sure has issues..."

"I heard that!" she snapped.

Then Libby tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, "Sheen, do us all a favor an' slip yo' cover-ups back on!"

"Okay," I muttered, following her orders, just slightly disappointed.

"Besides," Jimmy added helpfully, "You can't just go wandering around in the buff like that. Someone might see you!"

"I see your point, Jimmy," I told him while glaring at Cindy.

She just glared back at me, saying, "What?"

"I think he just gave you that look, Cindy, for splashing him and waking him up," Carl interjected additionally.

"Oh," she said.

Then I thought to myself, _Boy, am I gonna get her back for doin' that! Won't THAT be a sight!_

"So, what's the plan for today, Neutron?" Libby wanted to know.

"I'll need to work some more on my rocket today. So far, I have the engine repaired, so now I just have to work on the rest of it," he informed us.

"Sounds good to me!" she replied.

"But what are the REST of us supposed to do?" I protested.

He was already heading towards his rocket by then. "I don't know. Do whatever you want!" he quickly told us, only half-listening to what I'd asked of him and starting to work on his rocket some more.

"Well, you heard him! Let's have some fun here!" I exclaimed, running farther into the cave to explore some more.

Before long, I'd found some interesting stuff back there. "Wow! Look at all these sparkly drinks!" I hollered to my friends closer to the cave's entrance, "I'll bet there's Purple Flurp around here somewhere! Let me see if I can find it..." So I searched through all those weird liquids, but didn't find my tasty drink. Then, an idea hit me! "I know! I'll make some!" I announced to no one in particular, grabbing a couple and mixing them in a bigger container. Nothing happened, so I grabbed some clear, fizzy-water-lookin' stuff and poured it in. That's when the mixture exploded, gushing all over me and the table in front of me like a surging ocean wave, which made me scream out of fright and sheer shock.

Everyone else apparently heard my cries because they all came running towards me, concerned as to whether I was hurt or not. The fumes from the part of the concoction that was splashed on me made me real dizzy, then I fainted because of them.

When I came to, I found myself laying on my bed with everyone standing around me, talking at once.

"Are you okay, SHEEN?" Carl almost yelled, making me cringe a little bit.

"He feels sorta warm...," Libby noted, feeling my forehead.

"Pffft, serves him right for what he did!" Cindy muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Sheen, how did this happen?" Jimmy worriedly asked me.

"Never mind that! He shouldn't have been messing with your stuff in the first place, Jimmy," she snapped, looking suspiciously at him.

"So _that's_ how it happened!" he mused, "He was messing around with my hazardous chemicals! How many times have I told you not to mess with them, Sheen?"

"A lot?" I guessed.

"Yes, it has been! Hopefully, this consequence of your stupid actions will teach you not to tamper with my chemicals!" Jimmy scolded me firmly.

"Well, I don't know if you guys have noticed, but I feel kinda funny, almost as if I'm not feeling good," I informed them uneasily.

"Oh, no! This is _definitely_ not good!" Libby exclaimed, "I had a feelin' somethin' was wrong with him when I felt his forehead an' he felt kinda warm!"

"You might be right, Libby!" he replied, then turned to me and added, "Sheen, you're going to have to come with me so I can run some tests on you. I'm gonna have to take a blood sample from you and study it."

I immediately got up and exclaimed, "Jimmy, you know I don't do good with needles!"

"I know," Jimmy calmly responded, "That's why I'm going to strap you down and give you an anesthetic first."

Okay, at that point in time, I was officially clueless as to what he meant. What the heck was an "anesthetic"?


	20. Chapter 20 What's Wrong With Sheen? !

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 20: What's Wrong With Sheen?

(Carl's POV)

The girls retreated to do something else, but being the good friend that I was, I followed Jimmy and Sheen further into the cave because I was worried about Sheen. _What's Jimmy gonna do to him?_ I asked myself, concerned.

I then hid behind a nearby boulder as I quietly watched my 2 good friends. One was sick from some sorta chemical mixture, and the other was gonna run tests on the first. What was gonna happen? I was about to find out.

"Sheen, take a seat in that chair and pull its lever, please," Jimmy instructed him firmly.

Sheen did as he instructed, then asked, "Now what are ya gonna do to me?"

"Just take it easy, Sheen," he informed him, strapping him in with built-in metal clasps and stepping away for a few moments. Then he came back to him with a face mask of some sort connected to a weird tank by a long tube, saying as he placed the mask on his face, "Now, take a deep breath of this and you'll be out in seconds. It will also keep you from experiencing any kind of pain."

Sheen took a deep breath, and within a minute, was knocked out cold. Once Jimmy saw this, he brought out a needle and carefully extracted a small blood sample from him. Then he placed it on a microscope slide and began examining it while Goddard used some sorta beam to heal Sheen's arm where he'd been pricked.

That's when I couldn't take it anymore. I ran out from behind the boulder and up to him while he worked. "Can I help you, Carl?" he warily asked of me.

"Is Sheen gonna be okay?" I wanted to know.

"I'm working on it, Carl!" Jimmy informed me, then continued with his work.

All that work of his seemed to take forever, so I went back to my bed and snuggled under the covers, then fell asleep in under 5 minutes. Great. Some of Sheen is rubbing off on me...

About a couple hours later, Jimmy shook me awake. I sat up, stretched, and rubbed my eyes with a yawn, saying, "Find anything out, Jim?"

"Hold on, Carl," he told me, then motioned for the others to come over, which they did. Then he told us, "Guys, this is serious. Sheen has caused himself to contract the dreaded ailment H1N1, or the swine flu."

"Oh, no! He's turning into a pig!" I exclaimed, horrified.

"No, Carl. It's a much deadlier version of the common flu," Jimmy explained, "This can last for weeks, or even months, and can eventually kill you if the vaccine for it isn't administered within 10 days of contracting the virus."

"Oh, great...," Libby muttered, "I had a _feelin'_ he was sick!"

"Where are we gonna get the vaccine, Jimmy?" Cindy questioned, a bit concerned.

"I'm actually gonna create an antidote he can consume orally so he won't have to worry about any needles sticking into him. The ingredients for it are quite rare, and are only located in Indonesia, which is where we're at now, but on different islands. We have to get started right away in order to complete the antidote that'll get Sheen healed, so let's head out after I wake him up. My rocket's fixed enough to travel short distances of up to 200 miles at a time," he informed them, then went back to where Sheen was and splashed water on him to wake him up, then released him from the metal clasps that held him.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Sheen asked, coughing a few times.

"We're gonna set out and find ingredients for an antidote that'll cure you, Sheen," Jimmy told him informatively as they made their way to the rocket, got in, and blasted off.


	21. Chapter 21 Slowly Establishing a Cure

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 21: Slowly Establishing a Cure

(Jimmy's POV)

Technically speaking, it was Sheen's fault he got into my hazardous chemicals, but it was indirectly my fault because I, only half-listening to him, told him he could do whatever he wanted, and that meant messing with my volatile chemicals, to him, at least. In order to cure him of H1N1, or the dreaded swine flu, I needed at least 3 rare ingredients to form an antidote that would cure him instantly. The only problem was that each of them were on separate islands, and we were on Celebes, while the ingredients were on Java, Sumatra, and Borneo, not to mention my rocket is only fixed enough to go 200 miles at the most in spurts. This may take a while...

Once I'd determined that Sheen was carrying the dreaded swine flu, I unlatched him and woke him up with a splash of water from Goddard. When I told the others what Sheen had contracted, Carl overreacted and thought he was turning into a pig, but I explained to him that this was much more serious than that.

With that, we all clambered into my partially-fixed rocket and, with a bit of struggling, I got it up in the air.

We'd been gone for a few weeks, and I'd already knew by then we'd probably failed that science project from a few weeks ago. But, knowing Miss Fowl, she'll probably be a sucker for anything spectacular I might create, and will probably will give me an "A+" for creating such a thing, not to mention a bonus from before to make up for my missing that science project. At least, that's what I'm hoping.

Within about an hour, which was how long it took due to how damaged my rocket still was, we made it to Borneo, and we touched down in the central, mountainous part of the region where there was a clearing big enough for my rocket.

Once we got out, Sheen took one look around at our surroundings, then said with a couple coughs, "Wow, fascinating. *coughs sporadically* Okay, I'm bored."

"Sheen, do you need a cough drop?" I asked of him, reaching into a compartment near the driver's seat of my rocket.

"*coughs* Yeah," he replied, accepting one I handed to him and putting it in his mouth to suck on.

I couldn't help but notice that, while I was digging around in that compartment, Cindy was giggling to herself. So I stopped what I was doing, turned around to face her, and asked, "What's so funny, Cindy?"

"Oh, nothing...," she replied, trying to stifle her giggling by covering her mouth.

"Oh, okay," I said, and returned to what I'd been doing. That was when I heard her giggling even more, louder that time. So I turned around again and questioned suspiciously, "What IS it, Cindy?"

"When you bend over like that, I can see-! *laughs hysterically*" she began to respond, then laughed hysterically, pointing.

I didn't need to hear any more of what she had to say about that; I knew what she was talking about. With my face bright red, I reached down and gave my cover-ups a tug downward to keep them from riding up. Then I turned to Cindy and informed her, "Try to be more subtle about it next time, okay, Cin?"

Her giggling slowing down to a stop, she replied, "Okay, Jimmy, hee-hee, hee-hee..."

Then I announced, "Guys, we have to focus on what we came here for: finding the first rare ingredient to the antidote in order to cure Sheen."

"Okay," they agreed, and followed me and Goddard into the forest. It wasn't long before Goddard spotted something and pointed to it, acting like a pointer hound when it'd found something.

"Good work, boy!" I congratulated him with a pat on his head, then picked the rare plant and placed it in my hypercube for storage.

Then we headed back to my rocket, clambered inside it, and with just a bit of struggling, got it up in the air again and headed towards coastal Sumatra.

It took us about another hour to reach our destination, then I gently landed it and got out with everyone in order to explore the coastal landscape.

It wasn't long before we heard a yelp from Carl, so we ran over to him and I wanted to know, "Carl, what is it this time?"

"A crab pinched me!" he complained, holding up his foot.

I had Goddard kill the crab and remove it, then I realized aloud, "This species of crab is one of the rarest in the world! It's only found here in Sumatra. This crab has the next ingredient for the antidote that'll cure Sheen." I then picked up the dead crab and slipped it into my hypercube for later access.

Then we retreated to my rocket, got in, and with several failed attempts, got it running again and we were soon on our way to coastal Java.

When we got there an hour later, I discovered that all we needed was some rare Indonesian rice, so we all headed towards the city of Semerang. We walked up to one of the rice paddies there and saw someone working them. I then had Goddard translate our English into Bahasa Indonesia so the native could understand us. "Excuse me, ma'am, but could we take some of your rice plants from this paddy?" I asked her, and Goddard translated. Then she replied in Bahasa Indonesia, which Goddard translated back into, "Why are you asking to have some of my rice plants? This paddy has been in my family for generations."

Additionally, with Goddard's help, we carried on this conversation:

"My friend here is sick, and I'm making him an antidote that needs some of the rice plants that you have here in order to cure him."

"He doesn't look that sick."

"The infection hasn't completely started to affect him yet, but you can never be too careful! He desperately needs this antidote in order to live, and this disease he's harboring is the recently discovered dreaded swine flu, H1N1."

"Oh! That changes everything! Sure, you can pick some!"

"Thank you so much!" I concluded, and gratefully picked some of the rice crop from the paddy. Then we returned to the rocket, but not without hearing her say something in her native language, which Goddard translated to, "Good luck on curing your friend!"

"Thank you, kind person! Good-bye!" I hollered back, which Goddard translated again back to her.

We all climbed back into my rocket and, after some failed attempts to start it up, blasted off again, this time headed back to Celebes where our camp was located so I could start making Sheen's antidote.


	22. Chapter 22 Unfortunately Slow Progress

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 22: Unfortunately Slow Progress...

(Cindy's POV)

Shortly before we touched down at our temporary home in the cave, the rocket sputtered a bit, then plummeted down into the dense vegetation, but not before Jimmy managed to gain some control & land it gently into it.

Sher-Khan heard the noise & rushed over to us, not to hurt us, but because of his concern for us. "Is everybody okay here?" he wanted to know.

Clambering out of the rocket with the others, I told him, "Yeah, we're fine. No worries." Since WHEN did I use Aussie lingo?

"I'm glad you all are safe. Now I suggest you work towards curing your friend, because time's gradually running out for him," Sher-Khan added helpfully, gesturing with his paw to head into the cave. How'd he know about that? With those keen ears of his, he must've overheard it. Figures.

Suddenly, we heard an all-too-familiar deep voice coming from behind us say mockingly, "Hey, nice outfits, _losers!_"

We all turned around to see none other than Butch Pakovski emerging from the foliage behind us! How'd HE get here?

"Butch? How the heck did YOU get here?" Jimmy exclaimed out of shock.

"Exotic fishing trip with my dad & brother. We're searching for those rare species. Little did we know we'd find YOU guys here!" he replied, laughing hysterically & pointing at us, "And how did you come up with those loser outfits?"

"For your information, Butch," I snapped at him, "We were on a mission when a missile hit Jimmy's rocket, so we landed here, but since it's so flippin' humid here, we went for a swim, but monkeys ended up stealing our clothes, so I made these for us! And later, to make them last longer, he sprayed them with a special concoction he made! As if it's any of YOUR business, Pakovski!"

"Cindy, easy...," Libby cautioned me, "He still has the potential to beatcha up for sayin' that!"

"Got that right!" Butch interjected, pounding the palm of his hand with his fist a couple times.

I guess that did it for Carl, because he shrieked, "SHER-KHAN!"

With that, our loyal tiger bounded up in front of us & roared deafeningly in his face.

Butch's face turned pale as he turned tail & ran the heck outta there, hands held over his head & screaming at the top of his lungs. I could've SWORN I saw his eyes bug out as he ran off!

"That'll teach him not to torment my friends!" he reassured us, examining his paw as if he had a pedicure.

I couldn't hold it in anymore; I just burst out laughing hysterically when I remembered the look on his face when he ran from us! I had to hold onto the side of the rocket to keep myself from keeling over backwards in my hysterics. Finally, I calmed down enough to exclaim, "Pffffft, did you see the look on his FACE when he ran away? HYSTERICAL!"

"Oh, yeah!" Sheen whole-heartedly agreed, giggling, then coughing a bit. Even Jimmy laughed about it quite a bit.

Then, a few moments later, he regained his composure & informed us, "We better get going on this antidote! C'mon!"

After we ran back to the cave, Libby pointed out, "Neutron, only you know how to create such an antidote. The rest of us don't know a thing about it, not even Cindy."

"Yeah, it is mostly me who's doing this; in fact, 100% me," he noted, returning to his temporary lab to get started on it.

"I hope he knows what he's doing...," Carl said, worried as usual.

"Don't worry, Carl. He usually does," I reassured him, confident as usual about his typical success with similar scenarios.

Then we heard him utter a frustrated growl to himself, so we went over to where he was & I asked, "What seems to be the problem?"

"The problem is," Jimmy responded, glaring at no one in particular, "that this is going to take a lot longer than I previously suspected... This could take a few days to complete, at the very least. In order to create this antidote, I'll have to manually create the chemicals I'd normally have at hand back home, & that takes at least a few days. Once I've created them, I can administer them to each of the antidote's ingredients, then combine them, in order to complete it." He then sat in his lab chair, sat his elbows on his desk, & covered his face with his hands as he muttered, "Why must science become so increasingly difficult as the years progress? I hope I can cure Sheen in time; if not, I'm done for...!"

Sheen, Carl, & Libby quietly made their way closer to our makeshift home's entrance while I stayed behind to comfort him. At least, I tried to. I laid my hand on Jimmy's shoulder as I informed him, "I hope so, too, Jimmy, but even if you don't make the antidote in time, at least we won't have that annoying Ultra-Nuisance to get in our way..."

"Cindy!" he scolded me, his voice partially muffled because of his hands, "That's my _best friend_ you're referring to! Retroville just wouldn't be the SAME if he wasn't there! What am I gonna DO?

"Besides, Libby would be heartbroken without him, & her child wouldn't have a paternal figure to look after him/her! Think about that...!"

I just let out a long sigh of defeat, thinking, _He's right... Libby would be devastated if Sheen passed away, & her child wouldn't have a father... And it breaks my heart to see her, not to mention Jimmy, depressed & upset..._ Then I admitted, "Yeah, you're right, Jimmy. The sooner we save Sheen's life, the better! Now, stop acting all depressed & put that big brain of yours to work! Sheen's depending on you! You've saved people numerous times in the past, so why should this be any different? You can do it; I believe in you, Jimmy!" With that, I swiveled his chair around & gave him a big hug & a light kiss on the lips.

He returned the favor right back to me & said, "Thanks, Cindy. I needed those words of encouragement. I better get started if I wanna save Sheen!" He then turned back around to face his work & quickly got started on it.


	23. Chapter 23 Taking Care of Sheen's Harder

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 23: Taking Care of Sheen (Harder Than It Looks...)

(Libby's POV)

The following day, it seemed as though Jimmy wasn't any closer to Sheen's cure than the previous one. Every little bit of data about the illness confronting him seemed to be even farther away than the last, which clearly made him even more annoyed than the previous day. But he still kept hard at work, for the minutes were ticking by rapidly & that meant time was quickly getting shorter for that hyperactive cutie.

Sheen should've stayed in bed the whole day, but his game kept distracting him, as usual. When he thought no one was looking or listening, he snuck over to the television & activated his game again. And there he was... again.

With that, I marched over to him & shut the TV off, saying firmly, "Sheen, ya need to be in BED, not playin' some mindless video games! You're sick, & you need to rest so you can get well!"

"But Libby-," he began, but I wouldn't let him finish.

"C'mon, Sheen! It's back t' bed with you!" I snapped as I grabbed his wrist & dragged him back to his bed, almost forcing him back under the covers, "Sheesh, yo' strength is still with ya even though you're sick!"

Cindy walked up to us & commented, rolling her eyes, "Wow, he's still trying to sneak around, huh? Well, it ain't gonna work, Ultra-Loser! We've got ya all figured out! Don't even think about trying that again, cuz I will act brashly!"  
>Coughing sporadically, Sheen protested, "Okay, Cindy! Dang!"<p>

After I finally got him under control & settled down in the bed, I could finally relax & listen to my music for a while. Cindy sat next to me & wrote some more in her diary. After several minutes had passed, I looked around to see what everyone was up to. _Nothin' outta the ordinary..._ I mentally observed after a good look around, _Carl's asleep, snorin' like a freight train... Heck, even __Sheen's__ asleep now! Dang, that's a first!_

Then I saw Cindy get up from her seat next to me & head towards Jimmy... again. "Dang, that girl's startin' to _obsess_ over that guy...," I muttered under my breath, "Geez..."

After a while, however, I myself even got pretty bored. Dang, Sheen's starting to rub off on me. With a yawn & a big stretch, I retreated to my bed while Sheen slept on the couch, & was soon fast asleep.

I didn't know how long I was asleep, but I was awakened by someone shaking my shoulder impatiently. I sat up to be facing Carl, donning a worried look on his face. "Can I help ya, Carl?" I asked him.

"It's Sheen! He feels even warmer than yesterday!" he anxiously informed me, pointing over at him.

"Oh, no!" I breathed, & quietly hurried over to him, then felt his forehead gently. "Oh, great!" I accidentally exclaimed rather loudly, causing Sheen to stir a bit with a groan, but still remain asleep, "I gotta tell Neutron!"

Jimmy apparently saw me running up to him, cuz he wanted to know, a touch of concern in his voice, "Libby, what is it? Is Sheen alright?"

"He feels even warmer than yesterday!" I told him anxiously, glancing over at him repeatedly.

"I was afraid of that! C'mon!" he urged, dashing over to him with me not far behind. Cindy & Carl soon joined us.

Then Jimmy added, facing Goddard, "Goddard, thermometer, please!"

Goddard barked & produced one from out of his back hatch, then handed it to him.

"Thanks, boy!" he thanked him, & gently placed it in Sheen's mouth for a few moments, then took it back out when it beeped. "One hundred one point five degrees. Ugh..."

"That is definitely not good," I noted aloud with a sigh, "Worse than yesterday."

"Taking care of him is gonna be harder than we thought it would be," Cindy said, a tad concerned.

"You're not even helping out, Cindy!" Jimmy scolded her, then went to get some extra blankets to keep him warm. When he returned, he handed them to me & I gently unfolded them, tucking them around him gently but firmly.

He woke up just long enough to say, "Thanks, Libby." Then he went back to sleep.

Jimmy then turned to Goddard again & instructed, "Goddard, keep a constant eye on him & alert us if his condition worsens, remains stable, or improves, okay?"

He barked & remained by his side for the rest of the day. Sheen only got up once to get a drink of water & take some Advil to ease his symptoms, then went back to sleep. Carl got an ice pack from the freezer & gently placed it on his head to keep his head cool for a while.


	24. Chapter 24 Sicker & Sicker

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 24: Sicker & Sicker...

(Sheen's POV)

I had no idea how long I slept that day. All I knew was that I felt warmer with each passing moment. Cold sweats dominated my sleep sessions, but I was as yet able to sleep soundly. I hoped Jimmy was working hard on that antidote so he could cure me soon. I was in yet another deep, dreamless sleep when I was shaken awake.

"What is it?" I asked weakly, barely able to get up.

"Sheen, honey, how are ya feelin'?" Libby wanted to know, feeling my forehead again.

"Ugh...," I groaned, "My head really, really hurts..."

Jimmy apparently heard that, so he walked over to me & instructed his dog, "Goddard, Ibuprofen, please."

He barked & handed him some.

"Thanks, boy!" he gratefully thanked him, & gave me some with a glass of water.

"Can't I take it with Purple Flurp?" I moaned as I accepted the medicine & water.

"No. The sugar in it would only fuel the virus more & make you even sicker. Take it with that water I gave you," Jimmy informed me.

I then popped the meds in my mouth & gulped down the water with them. I hope it starts working soon...

Then Libby asked him, "Does Goddard have a thermometer, Neutron?"

"Yes, he sure does. Goddard, if you will...?" Jimmy told Goddard.

He barked again & gently stuck the thermometer under my tongue with a robotic hand. A few seconds later, it was removed & was examined to find my temperature.

"Oh, no!" I heard Libby gasp as she saw what the thermometer said, "It's even higher than yesterday! One hundred one point nine degrees!"

"Just as I feared! His core temperature is increasing daily!" he exclaimed fearfully, then instructed me, "Sheen, get as much sleep as you can! Your life depends on it!"

"O-key dokey, smoky!" I said, then painfully added, "My head..." I then laid back down in my bed on the couch, trying to relax so I could go to sleep again.

Before I was completely asleep, though, I heard Libby scold Cindy, "You haven't lifted a _finger_ to take care of Sheen! Are you REALLY that selfish? Starting tomorrow, I want ya to start carryin' yo' weight around here, especially to help take care o' Sheen! He needs all the help he can get around here!"

Cindy gave it some thought, then remarked, "Fine, but he better not barf on me!"

"You tell her, Libby-licious...," I barely whispered, for I was almost fast asleep.

The last time I was awakened was to take my temperature again, & it had risen to 102 degrees. Then I went back to sleep for the night.


	25. Chapter 25 Sheen's Cured!

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 25: The Cure

(Carl's POV)

The following day didn't look any better for Sheen. This time, he could barely sit up, let alone stand. I was becoming even more anxious with each passing moment for Jimmy to make that antidote so Sheen could feel better again. If my genius friend couldn't pull through for him, we'd have to get used to a gang of just 4 of us instead of 5, & Libby would miss him terribly. Luckily, he could still talk with us, though weakly.

Libby almost constantly stayed by his side the entire day, obviously concerned about his well-being.

"Neutron, don'tcha have any STRONGER medication for him?" she persisted for the seemingly 20th time that day.

"Like I told you before, I'm working on the antidote, Libby! That's the best thing for him now! We just have to keep giving him fluids & the strongest medication we currently have for him, which is Ibuprofen, until I finish it so we can cure him," Jimmy strongly informed her.

"I hope that's today...," I added anxiously.

"I hope so, too, Carl, I hope so, too," she told me, worried as she was about Sheen.

"According to Jimmy's information," Cindy helpfully put in, surveying his notes carefully, "If his condition continues to deteriorate at this rate, he'll be unconscious by noon tomorrow! Uh-oh!"

"Don't worry, sweetie!" he reassured her, "I've already created the chemicals I need; I just need to isolate certain tissue samples from each ingredient, then combine the chemicals with them to form the antidote! It should only take me 2 more hours, at the most!"

"Please... hurry..., Jimmy...," I heard Sheen whisper in a hoarse tone.

"Don't worry, Sheen," Libby told him, stroking his forehead lovingly, "Neutron's almost finished with it."

About an hour later, we heard Jimmy exclaim, "I've got the tissues isolated! It'll take 15 minutes for them to dissolve into the chemicals, then I'll combine the mixtures to form the antidote!"

Fifteen minutes later, he combined them, then waited 30 minutes until the mixture turned purple. Then he announced, "Finally, it's finished! I'll just put a straw into it so Sheen can drink it easier."

With that, he got one & stuck it in the antidote, then brought it to him, stooped to his level, & brought it to his mouth. Sheen leaned over & sucked it up, seeming to become more revived as he drank each bit of it. As he finished it up, he sat bolt upright & exclaimed, "I feel as good as new! Thanks a LOT, Jimmy!" He then lept out of bed & gave Jimmy a huge bear hug, which he gladly returned, saying, "You're quite welcome, Sheen! You know I'd do anything to save my friends' lives!"

"Hooray, Sheen's cured!" I proclaimed, giving Cindy a big hug.

She gently pushed me away & replied firmly but gently, "Okay, Carl, that's enough."


	26. Chapter 26 Trouble Strikes Again

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 26: Trouble Strikes Again...

(Jimmy's POV)

For the next week or so after I cured Sheen, it was rather peaceful. I, for the most part, worked on my rocket while the others would do whatever they pleased. It was so peaceful, it was almost boring; at least, that's how Sheen put it.

Cindy & Libby were starting to _really_ show they were each carrying a child, & it started to affect what they were wearing, so I used my Flux-Field Duplicator on the garments, making sure they weren't too tight or too loose on them. It would be about 4 more weeks until it was time for them to deliver their children. By that time, they were both itching to know their children's genders so they could pick out names for them. To tell the truth, I was kinda yearning to know, as well, as I'm sure Sheen was.

Also around that time, the wild fauna around us started to act a little antsy.

"There they go again!" Cindy groaned for the 12th time that day, "Those screeching monkeys are driving me CRAZY!"

"Same here!" Sheen exclaimed, covering his ears, "Normally, I love monkeys, but that screeching is making me go BERZERK!"

"Yes," I calmly noted as I worked, "They seem to be acting more eccentric than usual these days..."

"EEWW! An' they keep throwin' their droppings at us!" Libby yelped as she repeatedly dodged the flying excrement they were throwing.

"What kinda problem could they have with US?" Carl questioned, dodging the dung now & again.

"No idea, Carl," I replied, a bit concerned, "They normally don't constantly behave in this manner."

"They're either trying to ward us off or just trying to secure their territory, but it's _still_ disgusting!" Cindy griped.

"Hey, wait a second!" Libby exclaimed, pointing, "What's that shiny thing on their heads?"

"Huh?" I looked up from what I was doing & saw what she meant. "Leapin' leptons! It looks like some sort of mind control!" I gasped in disbelief.

"Mind control?" Carl repeated in shock.

"Yep! Only a genius could control monkeys' minds like that!" I informed him, "Someone like... Cousin Eddie!"

"Ding! We have a winner!" came a familiar voice that hasn't changed over the past 6 years.

"Where are you, you little CREEP?" Sheen demanded with an angry look on his face, scanning the forest around him rapidly.

"Over here, losers!" came Eddie's voice from a northerly direction.

We looked over in that direction &, in a makeshift throne wedged between 2 fruit trees & secured with vines sat Cousin Eddie!

"Why are you mind-controlling the local wildlife, Eddie?" Cindy snapped.

"For world domination, Cin!" I answered her, furious.

"Duh! Ya know, Jimmy, sometimes you're as dumb as Cousin Gomer...," Eddie remarked, rolling his eyes.

I just growled in response to him. That kid is as evil as King Goobot, I swear!

"For you morons' information, throwing the dung at you was just a test! Next month, the real action begins! _Arivederci_, losers!" he taunted as he climbed down from his post with his mind-control remote & retreated into the forest.

Cindy gulped & said, "Jimmy, next month is when our babies are supposed to be due!"

"We can't deal with mind-controlled animals while we're in labor!" Libby added, extremely worried.

"I know, I know!" I informed them, "And we're supposed to graduate next month, as well! Fortunately, my rocket is nearly finished; the only thing left for me to do is some last-minute minor adjustments. We should be able to head to Mount Everest in just under 2 days!"


	27. Chapter 27 Mount Everest

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 27: Mount Everest

(Cindy's POV)

During the next 2 days, we did what we could to maintain our living space in the cave. Libby & I did mainly little things, since normal activities were beginning to prove exhausting, such as rearranging the furniture around some, the reason being that we were carrying children.

Then, the day the rocket was fixed finally arrived! I woke up that morning relaxed & feeling rejuvenated; I sat up & stretched, ready to start the day, & got up to get myself some breakfast. I stole a quick glance at Jimmy, who lay in our bed asleep, & thought, _Jeez, putting the finishing touches on his rocket must've worn him out last night!_

As I ate, I noticed that Libby also got up. Funny, she usually takes the time to sleep in a good bit. "Hey, Libs. You sleep well last night?" I asked of her as she sat next to me.

"Yeah, for once. Fo' the first time that I've noticed recently, Sheen didn't sleep-talk at ALL last night, nor did he snore! I'm surprised!" she informed me, rolling her eyes.

"Wow, that's a first for him!" I noted with a light chuckle.

"Ya know, I really wanna know if I'm havin' a girl or a boy...," Libby admitted with a sigh, grinning.

"Me, too!" I told her, "I wonder if Goddard could help us find out...?"

Jimmy must've heard us, because we heard him sit up, stretch, & get out of bed. "Hey, sweetie," I greeted him, looking in his direction, "You get enough sleep last night?"  
>"I got to bed around midnight &amp; I just now awakened at 9, so yeah, I slept very well, Cindy," he informed us, grabbing a bite to eat.<p>

"Glad to hear it," I returned politely.

Right at that moment, I heard the monkeys start chattering again. "Oh, brother...," I groaned, slapping my forehead, "There they go again! I swear, those monkeys are driving me NUTS!"

"Don't _worry_, Cindy! I'm gonna get to the bottom of this situation before ya know it! Plus, we gotta leave today, so we better get ourselves dressed normally," Jimmy said, bringing out his hypercube & pulling out several of our outfits he had stored in there. Then he added, "I better get Carl & Sheen up now."

He then walked up to each of them & shook their shoulders, saying, "Carl, Sheen, time to get up! Today's the day we're leaving this joint!"

Sheen immediately got up & exclaimed, "Finally! C'mon, Carl!"

Carl soon followed suit, & soon they found the extra clothes Jimmy had laid out for them. "Thanks, Jim!" he thanked him, taking his outfit & going behind a large boulder to change. Sheen grabbed his & did the same thing.

Once Libby & I were finished with breakfast, we took our outfits, which were maternity size, thankfully, & went behind some bushes to change.

When we'd finished, we noticed that everyone else was ready to go, as well. He used that nifty invention to retract everything in the cave to its former state, then we all clambered in the rocket, Jimmy started it up, & we were soon on our way.

On our way to the Himalayas, Sheen found ways to be obnoxious, as usual. He did so by telling us what things he saw reminded him of UltraLord. Figures. I just ignored him the whole way, but Libby got rather ticked after a while.

"Sheen, if ya don't shut up right now, you are gonna regret it!" she snapped.

"Alright, Libby, dang!" he retorted, & shut up for the rest of the way there.

Once there, Jimmy landed the rocket gently on a level, snow-covered ledge just beneath where Calamitous had built his lair, then we all got out.

Man, hiking up that slope was a real PAIN! I must admit that Libby & I did nothing but complain the whole way up. It was really exhausting having to trek up that slope while carrying children who were 8 months along, but we made it to level ground & his lair about 2 minutes later.

"Whew, that was some hike!" Libby gasped.

"I concur, Libs!" I agreed, trying to catch my breath.

After we caught our breath, the 5 of us snuck into Calamitous' lab through a side/secret entrance only Jimmy knew about & had discovered when he was here last.

Once inside, Jimmy whispered to us, "Okay, now that we're inside, we have to be as stealthy as possible, so I'll make us invisible with my watch."

"I remember doing this!" Sheen exclaimed, "Jimmy, Carl, & I did this when Jimmy had to bust that smart kid that tried to steal his invention idea at that college!"

"Sheen, zip it!" Jimmy snapped quietly, then pressed a button on his watch & announced, making us all invisible, "Commencing invisibility!"


	28. Chapter 28 Invisible, Not Sneaky Enough

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 28: Invisible, Yet Not Sneaky Enough...

(Libby's POV)

I noticed something strange as we became invisible. We couldn't be seen, but Cindy's & my developing children could be seen. Must've been a glitch in that feature on Jimmy's watch... She & I tried to make sure they stayed hidden from view. We stayed behind a control panel of some sort, trying not to expose our location & betray ourselves & our friends.

Jimmy apparently noticed this glitch, as well, so he firmly instructed us, "Try to stay hidden, because if Calamitous sees your children, our cover will be blown! Carl, Sheen, & I will do most of the investigation here..."

"Can do, Neutron," I reassured him.

Well, with our developing children now visible while the 2 of us were still hidden, we could tell what kind of child we were having! That excited me! "Look, Cin!" I quietly exclaimed, "I'm havin' a baby girl!"

She gasped & added in a whisper, "That's awesome, Libs! It looks like I'm having a girl, too! Now, to think of fitting names for them..."

"Yeah," I agreed, thinking. Then, an idea for a name hit me! "I know! How about 'Marie Curie Neutron' for your little girl?"

"Eeep! Awesome, Libby!" she exclaimed a _little_ too loudly.

"Ssshh, Cindy!" I quietly shushed her, "You'll give away our position!"

"Sorry... I was just excited, is all...," Cindy apologized, "Now, how about... 'Taylor Swift Estevez' for yours?"

"I love it! Heck, if it was up to Sheen to name our child, he would've chosen 'UltraLady' as her first name...," I noted, snickering.

I couldn't see it, but I could tell she was rolling her eyes at that statement I'd made as she quietly giggled about it. Then she put in, "What else do ya expect from an Ultra-Dork like him?"

"Not much, I expect," I stated matter-of-factly, chuckling to myself.

Unfortunately, that was when we heard an all-too-familiar female voice speak up & demand, "Who's there? Come on out so I can see you!"

"If I'm right, that was none other than Beautiful Gorgeous!" Cindy gasped, emerging from our hiding spot with me.

"Now that's creepy! How is it possible for 2 developing children to be floating in midair?" Beautiful pointed out, hands on her hips.

"Ya might as well make us visible, Jimmy. Our cover's blown," Cindy hollered to him.

"Brilliant, JUST brilliant...," I heard him mutter in a disgusted tone as he made us visible again.

"You just HAD to open your big mouth, didn't you, Cindy?" Sheen snapped, arms folded & glaring at her.

"Hello, Ultra-Moron? It's only natural for expectant mothers to be curious about their child's gender!" she barked, clearly furious.

"On the bright side, we have names picked out for our growin' babies," I added, trying to be helpful.

"That still doesn't change the fact that we just endangered our lives, Libby," Jimmy reminded me.

"True...," I noted, a tad downcast.

"Well, I would have dastardly plans for you all, but my father says his big plans aren't going to be put into action until next month. He does have a new sidekick, however... What was his name again? Ethan? Evan? Esteban?" Beautiful remarked.

"Ha! You're just like your father, in that you can never finish anything!" Jimmy taunted her, then added, "The name you're looking for is 'Eddie', my cousin Eddie, to be exact!"

"Zinga! You are correct!" came his reply. We all looked up & saw him zooming up to us on a hi-tech jetpack. When he came face to face with us, he deactivated it dropped to the ground. _Jeez,_ I thought to myself as I looked down at him, _For a 7-year-old evil genius, he sure is a little squirt! He's about as tall as Jimmy was at age 11, minus the hair!_

"What do YOU want, Eddie?" Cindy snapped.

"Did you not hear what Neutron said a minute ago? To take over the world, DUH!" he barked, heading over to a control panel. Calamitous soon joined him.

"Why the heck would you 2 join sides?" I demanded furiously.

"Because, obviously, my father could never finish his previous plots!" Beautiful put in, obviously ticked off.

"But, dude, why are you waiting a month to get started on the real plan?" Sheen wanted to know.

"What? Are we BLIND? You 2 girls are expecting kids! A month from now is most likely when you're due to give birth, which couldn't happen at a worse time for you since I'll be commencing my plan by then!" Calamitous sneered, cackling evilly.

"Hold it!" Jimmy snarled, "I thought you could never finish anything!"

"Well, I'll be taking control of the world's land-based vertebrates, but I haven't figured out what happens after that...,"he stammered.

"That's where I come in, losers! I'm gonna turn every pet in the world against their owners, thus taking over the world with full animal control!" Eddie finished for him.

"That's one evil kid!" Sheen remarked.

"No duh," Cindy hissed, rolling her eyes.


	29. Chapter 29 Time Is Running Out

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 29: Time Is Running Out...

(Sheen's POV)

By that time, I was getting pretty impatient. "When the heck are we gonna try to stop him?" I demanded, arms folded.

"Well, he's no threat to us for the time being... We might as well just leave this place," Jimmy informed us.

With that, we all left for the exit, but not without hearing Calamitous say evilly, "Leaving, are you? Well, don't hurry back, because you have children to deliver before too long. When you do come back, we'll be waiting..."

"So long, suckers!" I taunted them, blowing a strawberry at them as we left the lair.

As we hiked the short distance back to the rocket, I heard Libby say gratefully, "Hikin' down is a LOT easier than hiking up!"

"I hear ya, Libs!" Cindy agreed wholeheartedly, "Especially with us 2 in our current state!"

I just rolled my eyes. Girls could be such _whiners!_

A few moments later, we reached his rocket. We all climbed in, Jimmy started it up, and we were soon on our way home.

While on our way, Cindy questioned, "So, Jimmy, what do you believe Calamitous plans on doing with these mind-controlled animals of his? It doesn't strike me as anything useful, in my opinion..."

"Neither does it me, but we can never be too careful when he, and especially my cousin Eddie, is involved in an evil plot...," Jimmy cautiously noted.

"Well, DUH!" I exclaimed, "That's cuz we always win, and they always LOSE! Cuz we're the good guys, and the good guys always win! Just like UltraLord!"

"Well, there have been times where we came pretty dang close to losin', Sheen, such as when we were in that alien game show...," Libby pointed out.

"Yeah, that was a close one! Meldar almost won that time!" I agreed, "Though when we worked together, we brought an end to that stupid game show."

"And that time every, well, _almost_ every villain I ever defeated banded together to try to get rid of me for good," Jimmy put in wholeheartedly.

"But in the end, you got rid of the remaining villains and that awful wormhole over Retroville that put us back in the past, sweetie!" Cindy complimented him, "Which was totally awesome, by the way!"

"You said 'almost every villain', Jim. Which ones weren't there?" Carl wanted to know.

"Well, that one college kid who tried to ruin my reputation at that college when I was 11, not to mention utterly humiliated me, my evil clone, the nanobots, Dr. Moist, and Meldar Prime," he informed us, then added, "And thanks, Cin!"

"How did he humiliate you, Neutron?" Libby questioned, clearly a tad curious.

With a pretty intense shudder on his part, Jimmy told us, "I'd rather not go into it, Libby..."

"But Jimmy, I wanna know! By your reaction, I can tell that dude made you do something truly _unforgivable!_" I persisted, eager to know what happened to him.

"I told you guys, I don't wanna TALK ABOUT IT!" he snapped rather sternly, still focused on piloting the rocket.

"Okay, Jimmy, DANG!" I exclaimed, dumbfounded, then muttered to Carl, "Jeez... Talk about insecure..."

"Tell me about it...," he replied, nodding.

About 20 minutes later, we landed back in Jimmy's front yard.

"I guess that wraps it up for this time, guys...," Jimmy informed us, climbing out once he landed it with the rest of us. With that, he walked up to one of the cushiony lawn chairs he'd recently placed outside his lab & immediately flopped himself into it, clearly exhausted from our adventure...

Little did we know that another, more terrifying adventure was about to unfold...


	30. Chapter 30 More Arguing, More Trouble

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 30: More Arguing, More Trouble

(Carl's POV)

Jimmy had only just begun to relax after that adventure in Indonesia when Cindy marched up to him and started barking at him, saying, "Jimmy, are you even aware what MONTH it is by now?"

Partially dazed and only half-listening, he shook his head and stammered, "Huh? Uh, what?"

"You know darn well WHAT! It's already May 3, and we've missed 2 months of school! Do you realize what that's gonna look like on our permanent records?" she snapped, slapping him on the side of his face.

"Hey, it's not like I'd actually _planned_ for that to happen to us, Cindy!" Jimmy remarked, returning to reality and sitting forward in his seat, "It was Calamitous who set off that missile that hit my rocket and made us crash into Indonesia! Therefore, it _wasn't_ my fault!"

"Have ya forgotten our encounter with Butch while over there? He's probably gonna blackmail us to the entire school, Neutron!" Libby reminded them, hands on her hips.

"How can we show our faces in school if THAT happens?" I worriedly asked.

"We're gonna have to! It'll be on our permanent records otherwise!" Jimmy informed us firmly, then muttered under his breath to me with a snicker, "And Sheen will most likely have to repeat his senior year..."

Chuckling under my breath, I nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

Sheen seemed to have heard us, because he exclaimed out of annoyance, "Hey! I don't wanna repeat what happened to me in the 4th grade!"

"That may happen if we don't get back to school by tomorrow, Sheen!" Libby told him, furrowing her eyebrows and her hands on her hips.

"Sure thing, babe," he replied, sporting a "cool dude" pose like Nick often used.

"Besides, it's getting late...," Jimmy reminded us, looking at the time on his watch, "It's already 1950 hours."

Stretching with a big yawn, I said, "I gotta get to bed by 9, otherwise I'll be in trouble..."

The rest of us all agreed, nodding simultaneously with random comments. With that, we all retreated to our homes for the night.

The following morning started out normally, with each of us, well, all except for Jimmy, who was almost always late for the bus, waiting at the bus stop patiently, doing our own thing as we waited... A few minutes later, I checked the time on my new watch. It was 7:49am. The bus would be here any second now. I glanced over at Jimmy's place in hopes he made it on time, for once...

Right at that moment, Libby cleared her throat and tapped my shoulder. "Yeah, Libby?" I wanted to know. She just pointed behind me at the approaching figure. I turned to see who it was and saw that it was Jimmy rushing up to us. I just chuckled to myself as I thought, _He barely made it this time, cuz here comes the bus..._ "Just BARELY made it this time, Jim," I told him aloud as he got up to us just as the bus pulled up.

Breathing kinda heavily, he agreed, "Yeah, Carl, for once..."

The bus driver opened the door and we all boarded it and took our usual seats. It sure had been a while since we'd ridden on that thing by then. "I missed you, bus...," I muttered, patting the seat I sat on to my right side. I then looked up to my left and patted the spot next to me as Jimmy passed by, saying, "Wanna sit here, Jim?"

"Sure, Carl," he said, and sat down next to me.

As the bus started to head towards the school, I kept hearing laughing and snickering all around us, combined with some whispering and pointing of fingers. I turned to Jimmy and asked, "Who are they pointing and laughing at, Jimmy?"

His eyes followed the direction the fingers were pointing, and I did, too, and they landed on Cindy and Libby, who sat side by side in the seat across from us, talking about girl stuff.

The snickering, whispering, and pointing continued for the next 5 minutes, and by then, it seemed Jimmy couldn't take it anymore, so he turned right around to face Britney and Nissa, who happened to be sitting behind us. That's when he snapped, "Either _stop_ with the teasing this MINUTE, or you're gonna regret it...!"

That seemed to shut them up!

At that moment, the bus pulled up to the school and stopped at the entrance, opening its doors for us. We all got up and walked out and headed inside the school. That was when the real trouble began...

It seemed that everywhere Cindy and Libby went, teasing and mocking followed them.

"Look at _her..._ What a beeyotch!" came one comment from an observer.

"How many guys have you done it with?" came another in Trigonometry.

By lunchtime that day, those 2 girls looked downright miserable. I couldn't help but feel sorry for them... But they weren't the only ones mocked that day.

As we left the cafeteria to head to our lockers and prepare for our next class, I noticed some teens standing around the bulletin board. I tapped Jimmy's shoulder and questioned, "What are they doing over there, Jim?"

"Let's check it out, Carl," he told me after getting his books for his next class. We headed over there and saw what they were looking at: pictures of the 5 of us from Indonesia while we were wearing things made from plants!

"Hey, Carl," Nick remarked, pointing, "Don't you and your friends belong in the jungle instead of here? You seem to fit right in there, seeing how weird you guys are." He then threw his head back and laughed hysterically as he went to his next class. I just hung my head and blushed while sporting an embarrassed look on my face...

"Who posted these, Nick?" Jimmy demanded after seeing the pictures.

"Butch did," he hollered as he went into his next class.

"Jimmy, I hate being teased...," I muttered, my voice a little shaky.

He laid his arm on my shoulders and reassured me, "Hey, at least we're not being physically beaten..."

"Yeah," I agreed, "At least there's that..."

Throughout the rest of the day, Cindy seemed more and more depressed with each passing minute, although Libby seemed to get over it eventually. She hardly even seemed to pay attention in Physics 101...

Then, at the end of the day, we were packing up our things to head home when Libby came rushing up to us, a worried look on her face.

Jimmy immediately took notice of this and asked, "What is it, Libby? Is everything alright?"

"It's Cindy!" she exclaimed, breathing heavily while holding her books, "She's run away!"


	31. Chapter 31 Where's Cindy? !

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 31: Where's Cindy?

(Jimmy's POV)

Right when I heard Libby's news that Cindy'd run away, I felt incredibly awful. I had a feeling all those comments made about her and Libby must've driven her to the breaking point... Libby was upset about it at first, but she eventually got over it and began rebuking those who were making fun of her and Cindy. Cindy, on the other hand, didn't seem to take it as well, as she looked more and more depressed as the day wore on. The last place I saw her in was my second-to-last class of the day, which was AP World Politics, then I got ready to go home that day and Libby'd reported that she'd disappeared.

I felt partially responsible for this, mainly because she and I'd had a scuffle the previous evening before heading home. She looked somewhat upset as she returned home, but it would take a lot more to break her spirit, and the mockery and teasing at school did it. I cared about her and wanted to see her again, to see her shimmering, emerald eyes one more time, to tell her that I deeply cared about her feelings and her as an individual. It wasn't my fault we'd fallen into that tunnel leading to BTSO's headquarters in the Pacific, nor was it that embarrassing incident happened because of that. It was just how we happened to land on eachother; it wasn't my fault that she was with child! It also wasn't my fault that we were hit by a missile from Calamitous, forcing us to land in Indonesia, and nor was it my fault that the heat and humidity made us wear garments woven from the native flora, and that Butch Pakovski just _happened_ to be there to photograph us without our knowing! Gas planet, all those unfortunate happenings really frustrated me!

I just stood there, just outside the school entrance while packed up for home, thinking about these things in depth, when Libby walked up to me and tapped my shoulder, almost scaring the heck outta me! I jumped slightly and yelped, turning to face her, "Yaahh! Libby, don't _scare_ me like that!"

"Sorry, Neutron... I'm just concerned about Cindy," she apologized, her hands joined behind her back and looking down at her shoes.

I could only nod and look at her, finally admitting after about 5 minutes, "So am I, Libby. I hate to admit it, but I'm gravely concerned about her well-being, as well... I just want to see her again, to look deeply into her emerald gems one more time, to tell her that I lo-..." Thankfully, I stopped myself before I completely admitted it.

At that moment, Sheen sauntered up to us, with Carl not far behind him, and he asked, "What were you 2 just talking about right now, _hmmmm?_" There was a sense of extreme curiosity in his voice; I could sense it almost immediately!

I just placed my forehead into the palm of my hand and muttered, "Nothing, _nothing_, Sheen..."

"Come ON, Jimmy! With you, nothing is always something! Do you miss Cindy?" he persisted, an eager look in his eyes.

I let out a deep sigh and muttered, "Yes, Sheen, I do..."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find her!" Sheen announced, starting to run ahead of us as if he was Vibrating Lad again.

"Sheen, wait UP!" Carl hollered, trying to catch up to him as he ran breathlessly.

"Guys, wait up! You'll need my help if we want to find her successfully!" I called after them in hot pursuit, with Libby not far behind me. _Just WHERE do they think they're __going__? I'M in charge here!_ I thought, gradually becoming breathless as I ran after them. Finally, I had to stop, and so did Libby. With that, I requested, "Libby, whistle for them, _please..._"

"Gladly," she replied, and with a large breath, whistled as hard as she could. _TWEEEEEET!_

They apparently heard her, so they turned tail and returned to us, with Carl breathing heavily, as usual, despite his leaner physique. "What's the deal, you 2?" Sheen wanted to know, crossing his arms on his chest.

"I need OXYGEN!" Carl gasped, and puffed deeply on his inhaler, then breathed, "That's better... So, why'd ya have Libby call for us, Jim?"

"Because I'M usually the one in charge and who usually knows how to keep everyone safe...," I said firmly, slightly glaring at them for running off like that. Then, in a gentler tone, I added, "Let's head to my lab so we can find Cindy somehow..."

With that, we all headed in that direction.

About 10 minutes later, we were inside my laboratory, with me at my usual post, typing furiously in front of VOX's screen. Within moments, it became a tad frustrating, and I thought to myself a tad nervously, _It should NOT be this hard to locate her! Has she deactivated the tracking device I implanted on the back of her __neck? Oh, gas planet! Get it together, James! There is simply no WAY she could remove it without my assistance! I've personally made sure of that._ A few excruciating minutes later, I discovered her location. Finally! "Jumpin' Jupiter, I believe I've done it!" I exclaimed, hardly able to contain myself.

The others heard me and ran up, with Libby anxiously asking, "Done what? Have ya found her?"

"I've located Cindy, guys! According to my calculations, she's somewhere in the Chilean Andes...," I informed them, pointing at the screen.

"I'm allergic to chili," Carl told me.

"No, Carl, that's the country she's in, Chile," I corrected him, rolling my eyes.

I then glanced at Libby, who had a slight grimace on her face while glaring at Sheen. Man, girls are so mysterious sometimes...

At that moment, Sheen proclaimed, "To the hovercar!" Libby just slapped her forehead in disgust.

We all boarded my hovercar and I set the coordinates to central Chile, then we were on our way within a couple minutes. One thing baffled my understanding, though... How the heck could she get to her present location without a rapid form of transportation? Then I remembered: the jetpack I'd made her last Christmas! THAT'S what she used to get there so quickly!

The real question, however, was where in the Andes was she... That girl can be rather stubborn when she chooses to be, and I hate to admit it, but I admire that about her personality; quick to the complaints and arguments, but I can be just as quick, and when she decides to be benevolent and considerate, she really goes all out. Whenever she looks my way, I'm just ever captivated by those beautiful, emerald gems of hers, her golden blond locks swaying gracefully in the breeze...

My thoughts were interrupted when Libby groaned and impatiently asked, "Neutron, it's been 20 minutes by now! Are we there YET?"

"Just hold on, Libby... We should be at her present location within 5 minutes," I informed her, briefly glancing at my radar screen.

"Thank _goodness..._," she muttered, breathing a sigh of relief.

Within 5 minutes, we'd landed on a flat plateau section of one of the Andes' highest mountains. We all climbed out and began looking for Cindy. Before too long, Carl pointed upwards and exclaimed, "I think I see part of her hair, Jim!"

"Really?" I gasped, straining my eyes to see her, but because of my somewhat shorter stature, I couldn't quite see what he was talking about. So I slowly backed up, unknowingly getting rather close to the edge, and a few moments later, I could just make out what he just showed me. I took a few more steps backward to get a better view, and said, "Guys, I think I see her-!"

Suddenly, my foot slipped off the edge and before I knew it, I was hanging off the edge of a cliff! "Guys, help!" I shrieked helplessly.


	32. Chapter 32 Saving Jimmy!

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 32: Saving Jimmy!

(Cindy's POV)

Shortly after school let out, I flew outta there as fast as I could, with the help of the jetpack Jimmy had made me that past Christmas, no less. I just couldn't take the mockery anymore, which was strange for me, since I usually am opt to retort back to any teasing or nitpicking that may be aimed in my direction. This time, however, was different; the argument Jimmy and I had the previous evening had started it, but all the rude comments, name-calling, mockery, and whispering negatively behind my back really did it in for me. They called me things I'd rather not mention, but I will say that 2 of them rhymed with "door" and "glitch". I was so utterly humiliated and let down by those words that I finally ran off when school let out, practically in tears, without a word to anyone, not even my best friend Libby.

I searched for the remotest place I could think of first, and the Andes of South America came to my mind first, so that's where I headed. I found what seemed to be the tallest peak there and settled on the crest, far away from anyone who'd mock me even more. It was rather cold that high up, but I didn't care. I just hugged my knees and cried my eyes out in humiliation...

It wasn't long before I heard a faint yet familiar distant whirring; it sounded like Jimmy's hovercar in the distance. He must've been concerned when he learned I ran away, so he pursued after me. Exactly HOW he knew where I was located was beyond me. But I didn't care about that at the moment; I just lifted my head up to see that he really was fast approaching me. He landed on a ledge not too far down from where I was, and I couldn't help but notice that Carl, Sheen, and Libby had tagged along, too. I then just let out a sigh of defeat and lowered my head again, still humiliated beyond belief.

I could faintly hear their voices, but I couldn't care less at the time. _They're probably just here to mock me like the others at school did..._ I thought bitterly to myself, a tear or 2 streaking down my cheeks. That's when I heard it: a faint cry for help. I lifted my head up to listen better, and that's when I knew who was in trouble: Jimmy! !

I stood up to get a better view, and saw him dangling from the ledge he'd landed his hovercar on! With that, I hollered down to him, "Hold on, Jimmy! ! I'm on my way!" I activated my jetpack and began the rapid descent to come to his aid.

It seems as though I wasn't quick enough, because when I landed on the ledge and stooped over to grab his hand, it slipped and he began plummeting down the mountainside! It wasn't long before I saw his right arm get badly damaged from a side collision and, before I knew it, his body flipped 180 degrees and his head hit a boulder at a dangerously high speed, knocking him unconscious. Then his body flipped over again, and his shirt collar got caught on a branch sticking out of the mountain.

I reactivated my jetpack and zoomed down to his aid. I wrapped both my arms around his waist and lugged him back up to where his hovercar sat. He was rather heavy for my taste, but I didn't care. I hurried back up and laid him gently in his hovercar. I rapidly motioned for Libby, Sheen, and Carl to hop in with me, saying, "We've GOTTA get Jimmy to the hospital, and _FAST! ! !_"

They quickly hopped in and I took the controls, lifting the hovercar off the ledge and rapidly forward towards the nearest hospital. After I set the coordinates, I set it on autopilot so I could tend to him the best I could.

"Oh, no! Poor Jimmy! !" Carl wailed, almost in tears.

"NOOOO! ! ! ! He was so young! !" Sheen exclaimed.

"Calm down!" I informed them firmly, "He's only unconscious; he's _not_ dead." I then looked in the front compartment of the hovercar for a bit, then I found it, the first aid kit! I grabbed it and used whatever supplies I could to bandage his head up and splint and wrap up his arm with my somewhat limited first aid knowledge. I could easily see a blood stain become visible on the bandage I'd just wrapped his head in after putting antibiotic ointment on it.

A few minutes later, I saw him slowly open his eyes about halfway and heard him mutter, "Where- Where am I?"

"You're in your hovercar on autopilot, well on your way to the nearest U.S. hospital. You would've nearly died falling down that cliff, Jimmy, had I not saved you!" I gratefully told him, gently caressing the part of his face that wasn't injured with my hand.

Clearly remembering the spat we'd had the previous evening, he said, "Cindy, I'm so sorry..."  
>"Ah, don't mention it. You were bound to mess something up eventually," I gently reminded him with a light chuckle.<p>

"I only came after you cuz I care about you, Cindy...," Jimmy told me, reminding me why he went after me.

"I know, and I commend you for that," I added, giving him a light kiss on the lips, then put in, "And thanks."

Goddard, who'd been with us the entire time, repeatedly licked his master over and over, clearly worried about his well-being. Using his arm that wasn't damaged, he reached over and patted his head reassuringly, saying, "Don't worry, boy. Cindy can handle this."

He just licked his master's face once more with a whine, then settled down for a nap.

"Aw, that's sweet...," Carl noticed, obviously touched by Goddard's actions.

I then looked at the others to see what they were doing. Libby was listening to her music as usual; Carl just yawned and slouched down for a nap; and Sheen was avidly playing his handheld UltraLord video game. Figures. I then turned my attention back to Jimmy, remaining at his side for the rest of the way to the hospital.


	33. Chapter 33 Hospital Care

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 33: Hospital Care

(Libby's POV)

As soon as we arrived at the hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, Cindy parked the hovercar, shut it off, and immediately turned to face Jimmy again. "Brilliant, _just_ brilliant...," she muttered sarcastically, "He's unconscious again..."

I laid my hand on her shoulder and informed her, "Don't worry, Cin. With this kinda care, he'll come to before ya know it!"

"I sure hope so, Libs...," Cindy replied with a worried sigh.

"Just one thing, though, Cindy," Carl reminded her, "How are we gonna get him inside? I think he weighs at least 130 pounds..." Just like Carl to put health first before anything else. Figures...

"Point made...," she noted, thinking for a few moments. Then her eyes lit up as she said, "Two of us will have to carry him in. I don't know the command he uses with Goddard to get him to transport an injured person... Libby and I will do just that."

With that, the 2 of us carefully grabbed him, I grabbing his legs and laying them on my shoulders with his feet pointing ahead of me and getting a firm grip on his thighs while Cindy grabbed his arms and draped them over her arms while she wrapped her arms tightly around his chest. "He's still breathin', Cin, so try not to restrict it by holding him too tight," I gently reminded her as we headed towards the hospital entrance with Carl, Sheen, and Goddard not far behind us.

After we were inside, we gently hurried up to the front desk. "Sheen, ring the bell, please," I instructed him.

Being the immature guy he was, he banged on it repeatedly for, like, a minute until I cleared my throat and told him, "Sheen, that's enough. I can see someone comin' over here t' help us."

Sure enough, the lady at the front desk approached us and inquired in a friendly tone, "May I help you?"

"Can you NOT see our friend is unconscious? ! !" Carl wailed, almost in tears.

"Take it easy, take it easy! !" she reassured us, "I'll take care of it right away! By the way, call me Flora." With that, she picked up the service phone, dialed a few numbers, and urgently informed the personnel on the other end, "We have a group of teens, one of them badly injured and unconscious, at the front desk. Please attend to them immediately!" She then put the phone back and told us, "The doctor will be right with you."

A few antagonizing minutes later, the doctor arrived with some attendants pushing a wheeled stretcher and said, "Gently lay him on the stretcher and we'll send him straight to the ER. Your friend is in good hands."

Cindy and I nodded, and with a great heave on our part, we placed Jimmy ever so carefully on the stretcher with his head on a pillow and him on his back. After the attendants strapped him down gently yet securely, Cindy bent over and gave him a brief kiss on the lips, saying, "I love you... so much..."

As he was wheeled away, I glanced over at him, saw him barely open his eyes for a moment or 2, and heard him say in a low tone, "I love you, too, Cindy." He then slipped back into unconsciousness as he disappeared around the corner towards the ER.

We each took our seats in the waiting room and began waiting for him to return, hopefully safe and sound, and well cared for, as well.

After about 5 minutes had passed, Sheen got restless and began squirming in his seat, looking around at the various people in the waiting room with us. I could tell he was getting rather impatient, not unlike back when he was 12. So I tapped him on his shoulder as he sat next to me and asked, "Sheen, honey, did ya bring anything to keep yourself entertained?"

"No," he impatiently snapped, slapping his forehead, "For once, I didn't bring anything with me!"

"Well, there are a few things here you can do," I told him, "There are magazines you can read, and there are some vending machines over there. Plus, there's a TV overhead you can watch TV on."

"Boring! !" Sheen interjected, and he was soon fast asleep in his seat.

"I'm hungry, but I don't have any money with me," Carl said to himself, glancing hungrily at the vending machines.

"Here," I offered, leaning forward to the opposite row of seats where he sat with Cindy with a dollar in my outstretched hand, "Take this, an' keep the change." I then leaned back in my chair and jammed to my music for a while.

"Thanks, Libby!" he gratefully thanked me, and moseyed over to one and got himself a snack, then returned to his seat. After his snack was finished, he slumped down in his seat, not unlike Sheen had already done, and began snoring loudly.

Cindy kept herself occupied with some of the available magazines for the next couple hours, which seemed to take an eternity! !

Several antagonizing hours later, I thought I saw Cindy say something, so I lifted up one of the speakers on my headphones, leaned forward, and asked, "What was that, Cin? ?"

"I said that I hear someone approaching us, most likely the doctor who's taking care of Jimmy," she repeated, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the hallway.

I leaned to my right a tad and strained to see someone coming, and sure enough, he came down the hallway and approached the 4 of us, a concerned expression plastered across his face. "Well...?" I wanted to know, shaking Sheen's shoulder to awaken him.

"Psssst, Carl! Wake up; the doctor's here," Cindy added, tapping his shoulder fervently. They both sat up straight and stretched, very quickly becoming alert and attentive to what the doctor had to say.

"Eh, what's up, doc?" Sheen playfully questioned with a snicker. Carl quietly giggled and commented, "Nice one, Sheen!"

The doctor just rolled his eyes slightly and informed us, "I get that a lot. My name is Doctor Ethan Lang. Now, listen up; your friend's health is slowly improving, though we're not sure yet if he'll be the same friend you knew before. He sustained moderate damage to his cranium, and we're not certain if this affected his speech, short-term memory, or anything else, and his arm was badly mangled. We had to perform surgery to insert screws into his radius and ulna to get them to align properly so they can heal. He is currently in recovery, but I hesitate to mention that he could slip into a coma if he does not improve within the next 2 weeks..."

Carl heard it all with a terrified look on his face, and remained silent for about a minute after Dr. Lang finished speaking, then cried, "Oh, NO! ! NOT Jimmy! ! ! ! He was so young! ! !" With that, he burst into tears.

Just then, an attendant rushed up to him and whispered something into his ear, causing his expression to progress from concerned to extremely worried. After a few moments of hesitation, he informed us, "I've just been informed that your friend Jimmy has slipped into a coma..."

With an extremely loud shriek, Carl fell over backwards and fainted out of pure agony. I couldn't help but feel for him. If what happened to Jimmy had instead happened to Cindy, I'd probably react the same way, seeing that she's my best friend. I believe she was the most nerve-wracked because that was her boyfriend who'd just slipped into a coma. I'd feel the same way if that happened to Sheen. All the same, Jimmy is a good friend, and I'd really HATE to see him pass on at age 17! He's the one who ultimately brought the 5 of us closer together as friends, starting when our parents were abducted by Yokians so many years ago...

My thoughts were interrupted when Dr. Lang spoke up for a final time that day, saying, "We're doing everything in our power to ensure that he recovers in the shortest amount of time possible. We will call to inform you of his progress as time passes." After he said those things, he retreated back to the ER.

"What about school, Libby?" Sheen wanted to know, a worried look on his face.

"We'll just have to explain to them what happened and the reason why he's absent...," I told him and the others as Cindy was shaking Carl awake from his fainted state.

Boy, things were gonna be SO much different now that Jimmy wasn't with us...!


	34. Chapter 34 Not So Glamorous Hotel Stay

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 34: Not-So-Glamorous Hotel Stay

(Sheen's POV)

By the time we heard Jimmy had slipped into a coma, it was already going on 9pm at night. I was sure by now our parents were starting to get worried about us, and Mrs. Neutron wasn't gonna be happy when she hears about Jimmy. I swear, we had been in that waiting room for the past 4 and a half HOURS! ! Man, I was gonna go insane without anything to do!

Libby apparently saw me squirming around in my seat anxiously, so she rested her hand on my shoulder, gently yet firmly, and scolded, "Sheen, calm _down_, now... I'm sure everything's gonna be okay pretty soon."

"I can't calm down, Libs! For one thing, I've gone 4 and a half hours without doing anything UltraLord-related! And another thing, my best friend's in a coma! ! ! He could be DYING in there! !" I exclaimed, spazzing out.

"Sheen! ! Get a hold of yo'self! !" she snapped, grabbing my shirt collar to keep me from running off. Dang, that girl is strong, especially since she was gonna have a baby soon! I kept struggling, but it was no use. I finally settled down after about 5 minutes, exhausted, and worried about Jimmy, especially!

"Yeah, that's right, Ultra-Dork! Either keep it down and stay calm, or I'm gonna do that FOR you! ! !" Cindy put in aggressively, threatening me with her fist. Dang, her hormones must've been raging or something!

"Cin, ease off on him, girl... Besides, it's practically 9 o' clock, an' we need a place t' sleep fo' the night...," Libby told her best friend, taking her hand gently.

"I guess you're right, Libs. Anyway, the hovercar's beginning to run low on fuel, and we need to conserve as much as we can. We should stay at a local hotel tonight," she informed us, getting up from her seat next to Carl and motioning for us to follow.

The rest of us followed suit and retreated out of the hospital, but not without Cindy casting a wistful glance back and whispering, "Hang in there, Jim. We're depending on you to recover..."

She and the rest of us got in the hovercar and she started it up, set the next location somehow, then switched it to autopilot. Shortly afterward, her cell phone began ringing. "I got this one, guys," Cindy told us, and picked it up, saying, "Hello? Yes, this is Cindy; you've got the right number, Mrs. Neutron..."

Carl gasped and whispered, "It's Jimmy's mom! She's not gonna be happy when she hears about Jimmy! Be quiet and listen..."

"Um, here's the thing, Mrs. Neutron...," she continued, growing progressively anxious in her tone of voice, "About Jimmy... He's- he's in the hospital in Phoenix... He had a horrible accident. Well, he got a broken arm, snapped in 2 on his forearm, radius and ulna region, and a moderate concussion. Yes, I'm aware you know what happened before we got back; he must've explained it to you. But what happened after school is another story... Just calm DOWN, Mrs. Neutron! ! Lemme explain: the kids at school were mocking me and Libby for being with child, and I finally couldn't take it anymore, so I quietly ran away to Chile using the jetpack he made me last Christmas. He apparently was concerned about my feelings, so he ran after me, and while on the ledge of the mountain I'd settled on, he inevitably backed too far to the edge, and before I could save him, he fell backwards, breaking his arm and receiving his concussion! He was left hanging by his shirt from a branch on the mountainside, so I swooped down and lugged him to his hovercar. I set the coordinates for Phoenix and rushed him to the hospital there, where he's in intensive care at this moment, ...in... ...a coma... Yes, YES, I'm upset about this, too! ! Okay, Judy, yes, he's in good hands; don't WORRY! ! ! Alright, talk to you later. 'Bye."

"So, what did she say, Cindy?" Carl asked worriedly.

With a long sigh of anxiety, she reported, "She's extremely worried about him, seeing as he's her son and all, but I told her he was in good hands." Cindy then turned to face the direction we were headed and added, pointing at the hotel, "Hey, we're here!"

"Finally! !" I exclaimed, "A nice, warm, cozy place to sleep!"

With that, we all, including Goddard, clambered out of the parked hovercar and headed inside up to the front desk. When we approached, the woman behind it greeted us, saying, "Hello, welcome to United Relaxation Suites! How may I help you?"

Drawing out a debit card from her wallet, Cindy requested, "We'd like 2 rooms, please. Preferably, one with 2 separated sleeping areas and one regular."

She swiped Cindy's card and typed some on her computer, then returned it and 2 room keys to her and said, "You'll just love rooms 709 and 710! Room 709 has a deck and a built in indoor hot tub, plus a kitchen, bathrooms, and plenty of room! Room 710 has similar accommodations, with yet another hot tub, though smaller, and a double sleeping area. Enjoy, and we have wi-fi!"

"Thank you very much, ma'am!" Cindy thanked her, taking the room keys and putting away her debit card. Then she turn to us and instructed, "Let's head on up, guys."

"Do let's!" Carl and I proclaimed in unison. Then, as we headed up the elevator towards our rooms, Carl added, "I hope Jimmy recovers soon..."

Cindy nodded with a worried look as the elevator stopped at the 7th floor and let us out. It wasn't long before we reached our rooms. Then she handed Libby and me a room key and told us, "You 2 take room 709, and Carl and I will take room 710, okay?"

"Sure thing, Cindy," Libby and I replied in unison, and used the room key to head inside while Cindy and Carl did the same.

I had just ran to one of the beds and flopped on it, facing the ceiling, when we heard a knock at our door. "I'll get it, Sheen," Libby informed me, and went over to open it. Standing before her with Jimmy's hypercube was Cindy. "I almost forgot! Don't forget your things!" she put in, pulling all the things we'd need out of it, from our clothes to our bathroom stuff.

Libby took them and thanked her, "Thanks, Cin!" She then shut the door again once Cindy retreated to her room.

"Okay, Sheen," she said, laying our clothes neatly inside the dresser drawers provided, then placing our bathroom stuff and personal items in the bathroom, then returning to the bed I was still laying on and flopped beside me playfully, "Now what do we do?"

"I wanna order room service!" I immediately exclaimed, feeling all hyper, as usual.

"Sheen, it's almost 9:30 at night. We need to get ready for bed and get some sleep," she gently reprimanded me, "B'sides, they're probably closed for the night. And I'm also worried about Jimmy a bit, but Cindy's probably more nervous about his well-being than I am."

"Darn it!" I muttered loudly, sitting upright. Then I added, "Oh, well... We might as well do that." Then I began undressing while Libby retreated to the bathroom to clean up.

Ten minutes later, she walked out wearing a silky nightgown, all pink and frilly. _Whoa, BABY! ! She looks HOT!_ I thought excitedly, a stupid grin spreading on my face. "You look Ultra-AWESOME, Libs! !" I informed her.

She just giggled flirtatiously and commented, "Thanks, Sheen. Go get yo'self cleaned up an' teeth brushed, hon..."

As I went into the bathroom, I glanced out of the corner of my eye at her, hearing her giggle quietly to herself as she climbed into bed. I got myself cleaned up, then returned to bed and climbed in with her.

After a minute or 2, I noted with a slight shiver, "It's a bit chilly, babe. Let's pull up that extra blanket at the end of the bed..."

"Well, no wonder, silly goose! You've only got boxers on!" she replied, giggling while pulling up the more insulating blanket over us.

"That's better. Thanks, Libs!" I thanked her.

"Don't mention it, sweetie. Now let's get some sleep...," Libby murmured, almost half asleep. She must've been in a friendly mood, because she right afterwords began cuddling with me, a favor of which I gladly returned. We fell asleep within half an hour after that.

Even as I slept, I never forgot about Jimmy. Heck, I even dreamed that he was gonna be back to normal the next day that night. I sure hoped that would eventually come true, cuz he's my best friend. During my dream, I felt myself muttering, "Hang in there, Jimmy... You're in good hands."

Before I knew it, morning arrived. I gradually opened my eyes to the bright sunshine shining right in my eyes. Very gently, I shook Libby's shoulder to wake her. "It's morning, Libby," I told her.

"'Mornin', Sheen," she muttered sleepily, rubbing her eyes. Then they flew open, as she seemed to realize something. She sat bolt upright in bed and worriedly asked, "Sheen, how late did we sleep? !"

I turned to face the digital clock right next to us, and saw that it was rather late in the morning. "Ten-thirty, Libby...," I told her, "What's up?"

"Sheen, we're REALLY late fo' school! ! It's 11:30am in Retroville! ! !" she shrieked, flying out of bed and scrambling to get some clothes on. I just sat up and stared, bewildered. "Well, don't just SIT there! Get movin'! !" she scolded, rapidly gathering our things, then added, "Put some clothes on, sheesh! !"

I looked down and felt my face turn beet red. Right then, a knock was heard at the door, followed by the doorknob jiggling. It opened a bit to reveal a cleaning lady, and a downright hot one at that! I just shrieked in embarrassment, causing her to quickly shut the door. Just _brilliant_... _Great! How embarrassing! ! I must've kicked these off during the night!_ I thought, grimacing, picking up my shorts from the floor, _Gotta get dressed, NOW! ! !_ With that, I skeedaddled to the bathroom with some clothes and threw them on in a flash. Once I was wearing them, I felt my embarrassment leave me.

We finished picking up our things and ran to Cindy's room. Libby banged on the door and hollered, "Cin, Carl, get yo'selves in gear! ! We missed a TON o' school!"

We then heard her reply, "Sheen, Libby, cool your jets! There's no school today; teacher work day."

"Well," Libby replied worriedly, "We still gotta see how Jimmy's doin'! Aren't ya worried about him? !"

"Of course!" Cindy said, with some rustling around being heard in the room, "C'mon, Carl! Let's go!"

A minute or 2 later, she and Carl emerged with their stuff and the hypercube. We all piled it in, then rode the elevator and hit the lobby soon afterward. We grabbed a couple things from the brunch buffet, then hurried out to the hovercar, hoping against hope Jimmy was recovering fine...


	35. Chapter 35 Wonderful News!

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 35: Wonderful News!

(Carl's POV)

Once we arrived at the hospital again, we all, including Goddard, hurried in to find out if Jimmy had improved any. We checked with the front desk, then retreated to the waiting room we'd been in only the previous day. We heard a call over the intercom stating that the doctor was on his way to inform us how our genius friend was doing. "Finally...," I muttered, turning to face the direction he was headed from, "I hope it's some good news."

"So do I, Carl," Cindy sighed in agreement, looking in the same direction as I was.

A few moments later, Dr. Lang arrived. I could tell by the look on his face that it wasn't good news he was gonna share with us...

"Eh, what's up, doc?" Sheen asked playfully again. I couldn't help but giggle quietly to myself; that was a pretty good pun!

"That's beginning to get old, young man," the doctor gently scolded him. Then he continued, "Your friend James continues to be in a coma. We're doing everything we can to keep him as stable as possible. We've been monitoring his health, and according to our calculations, he should come out of his coma within a week, seeing as his concussion wasn't as major as it could've been... We'll keep you informed as his condition progresses." He then left to head back to his medical duties with his attendants at hand.

"Wow, even just a WEEK seems like an _eternity_ to me! !" Sheen put in once he'd left.

"We're just gonna have to wait, Sheen," Libby informed him, taking his hand in hers, "I'm sure these next several days will just FLY by..."

"I sure hope so," I groaned, resting my chin in my palms with a sigh.

Goddard just cocked his head a bit, then licked me a couple times.

"Thanks, Goddard. I needed that," I gratefully told him, patting him on the head.

About 2 hours later, which seemed to take forever, by the way, a nurse came up and informed us, "Visiting hours are over for a couple hours, kids..."

"Hey, we're not kids! We're teens, lady! !" Sheen barked at her, standing up immediately and glaring at her.

"SHEEN! ! !" Libby snapped, slapping his face, "Be polite!"

"Ow! Okay, Libby, jeez! !" he exclaimed, rubbing the side of his face.

Cindy just winked at her with a slightly ticked off look on her face, then politely told the nurse, "Okay, we'll be off now, ma'am... C'mon, guys. Let's head on home."

We all got up from our seats and followed her out to the hovercar. She set the coordinates for Retroville, turned on the autopilot, and we were soon on our way.

About half an hour later, which is how long it took with how fast the hovercar was, we were home. Boy, it sure wasn't the same in Retroville without Jimmy.

Before we knew it, Judy and Hugh came rushing out of their home and right up to the 4 of us. Without a moment's hesitance, she anxiously asked, "Is my baby okay? ! How much longer is he going to be in the hospital? !"

"Calm down, calm DOWN, Mrs. Neutron!" Cindy reassured them, "With the current care he's receiving, they said he should be out of his coma within a week. I'm just as glad as you are that his concussion wasn't worse than it is now! Just call me if you need to talk, Judy." With that, she gave Judy a big bear hug to reassure them that he'd be okay soon enough. She gladly returned the favor and replied gratefully, "Thank you, Cindy. I certainly will. Let's go, Hugh." The 2 parents then left to head back into their home.

It would be a long 6 days before we heard anything about Jimmy again, and when that day finally came, boy, were we thrilled!

We were just minding our own business at the Candy Bar when Cindy's cell phone rang. She immediately grabbed it and informed us, "Hey, guys! I think this is the doctor who's taking care of Jimmy!"

THAT got our attention! We hurried over to her to see what the doctor would say...

"Hello? Yes, this is Cindy Vortex. Is this Dr. Ethan Lang? Oh, good! How is he? He IS? ! Wonderful! ! How soon may we come visit him? Today, you say, this afternoon? Excellent! See you then! Good-bye!" she conversed with him, then hung up with a huge, excited grin on her face.

"Well, someone's sure excited!" Sheen observed.

"I sure am! Dr. Lang said we could come visit him this afternoon, and he's scheduled to come home this evening! !" Cindy squealed with excitement.

"I am SO glad t' see my girl upbeat an' happy again!" Libby commented, "That is such wonderful news!"

"I _know! !_" she exclaimed, jumping out of her seat with the rest of us and giving her a tight squeeze out of sheer joy, which Libby gladly returned.

As for Sheen and me, we just hooked arms and "happy-danced" for, like, 2 minutes straight.

After we all calmed down, Cindy checked the time on her cell phone. "It's 3:20, so let's go pay him a visit, shall we?" she suggested, motioning us to follow her, which we happily did. We ended up at Jimmy's clubhouse, and there his newest rocket sat, ready to be used for the first time. It resembled his old JimBus from when he was 11, only more hi-tech and roomier.

"We'll be using this, since I've no idea what fuel he uses for his hovercar," Cindy added, "So, hop in! I'll take the controls, since he taught me how to drive this thing in the 11th grade when he made this." We strapped ourselves in, she took the controls, and we blasted off toward Phoenix, making sure we brought Jimmy some fresh clothes since he was coming home that day. Boy, was he gonna be in for a SURPRISE! !

**End of Part 1... Stay tuned for more!**


	36. Chapter 36 Headed Home!

**Part 2 begins now! The suspense in this thing has got even me anxious to know what happens next, and I should know, cuz I'm the writer! lol That's why I'm posting this so soon; I just couldn't wait any longer! I'll be writing more chapters as time goes, so be patient. I've yet to write Chapter 37 onward, so just hang in there. I promise you, once the next one's written, I'll upload and post it! You have my word, young padawans! (lol Couldn't resist a SW reference... XD) Enjoy! !  
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Emerging Compassions

Chapter 36: Headed Home!

(Jimmy's POV)

I didn't know how long I was out cold, but what I do know was that I couldn't remember, or even sense, anything from memory or the world around me. Little did I know at the time I'd slipped into a coma for a week, but that all changed on the 8th day I was at the hospital. First, I began hearing muddled voices that didn't make any logical sense at all when I began regaining consciousness; they only sounded like gibberish around me for the first couple hours. Then, it began to come into focus, first my hearing, then my other senses followed until I could sense everything around me. And when I was fully awake, I was in for a shock!

For one thing, my right arm was suspended in a sling held by pulleys bolted to a metal rod that was attached to the wall behind me. It hurt excruciatingly to maneuver it in the slightest. My head was also bandaged up, and I got severe headaches every now and then. An IV was attached to my left arm with a hospital wristband on it, along with my special watch they surprisingly let me keep with me. And, as usual for hospital stays, I donned a light blue hospital gown.

That afternoon on the day I regained consciousness, a nurse came in to assist me and check the usual medical vital signs. When she was finished taking my blood pressure and other such duties, I was surprised to learn she had some news for me. "I've got some exciting news for you, Jimmy!" the nurse, whose name was Theresa, informed me.

"What might that be? ?" I asked, my heart beginning to pound with excitement while I tried to keep a serious expression on my face.

Theresa just laughed and said, pointing to the heart monitor, "I can see right through your 'serious' expression, James. Your heart rate just increased dramatically, indicating you're excited about the news I'm about to give you! You're really rather amusing!"

"So, what's this exciting news of yours, ma'am?" I persisted, rather anxious to know what it was.

"You have 4 visitors coming to see you, and a robotic one, I believe, as well!" she told me, a confident look on her face.

"Holy Heisenberg!" I exclaimed, beaming with joy, "I know _just_ who you're referring to! !"

Theresa giggled again and added as she left, "I'm sure you do! They'll be here in 20 minutes. Take care now."

I just couldn't believe my ears! My best friends in the whole universe, plus Goddard, were coming to visit me! This was just so invigorating to hear! Just thinking about this made me almost hysterical with emotion, so much so that I temporarily forgot my arm was broken and moved it a bit. Boy, THAT really hurt! "OW! ! I forgot about that!" I groaned a bit, grimacing from that bit of pain I just experienced. But the feeling soon passed, for I just couldn't WAIT for them to get there and see me, especially Cindy!

It was about 10 minutes after that that I heard an impatient knock on my door. I just rolled my eyes sarcastically; I knew that was Sheen any day! "Come on in, you guys!" I hollered.

Sheen was the first to come in, spastic as he usually was, rushing in all hyped on sugar, I suspected. The rest of them entered in a calmer manner than him.

The moment Cindy laid eyes on me, she hurried over and gently hugged me, carefully avoiding my injured arm. She then kissed me and said with a sigh of relief, "I'd thought I'd LOST you, Jimmy! Oh, I'm so grateful that you're alive! !"

"I'd feel the same way if you were in my situation, Cindy. How long was I out of sorts, ya know, in a coma?" I wanted to know.

"You were out cold for a week, Jim," she commented, caressing my cheek with her hand ever so gently.

"Thanks so much for saving me, Cindy," I gratefully thanked her, gently pressing her hand against my face with my good hand, then I joked with a good laugh, "Looks like I'll have to force myself to be a lefty instead of a right-y!"

"You're 'right' about that!" Sheen teased, snickering.

"Good one, Sheen!" Carl noted, laughing.

Even Cindy laughed when she heard that one! That was a first! Then she replied to my grateful comment, "You are SO welcome, hon..."

Then I thought of something: how badly WAS my arm broken? I was about to call for the nurse again, but Cindy stopped me and added, "Whatever question you may have, Jimmy, I'm positive I can answer it for you."

"Do _you_ know how badly my arm was broken?" I questioned her.

"Your forearm was literally snapped in 2, radius and ulna region, so they had to perform surgery to straighten them so they can heal properly. Dr. Lang informed me of that," she explained.

Right at that moment, Nurse Theresa walked in, seeming to hear Cindy's last comment, because she informed us, "These screws that we inserted into your forearm are biological; they will remain partially metallic while your arm straightens and heals. Once completely healed, they will gradually degrade into the same material your bones are made of within 2 weeks afterwords. It's our latest advancement in bone regeneration."

"Incredible!" I gasped in awe, "Leapin' leptons, your hospital's medical marvels are _astounding! !_"

"I'm very glad you think so, James," Theresa said with a smile. Then she added, removing the IV and the wristband, "We need to get you ready to go home this evening. I'll very carefully lift your bandaged arm out of this sling, then set in this rolling support rod and come with me. We're gonna fit you for a cast that you'll be able to use at home or on the go. The rest of you, please go wait in the waiting room downstairs, if you would, please."

As they were leaving, I couldn't help but hear Sheen tease me, saying, "I see London, I see- Oh, dang! Say no to crack!" With that, he began laughing hysterically. Feeling myself blush extremely hard, I used my free hand to keep the back of my gown shut. Now THAT was embarrassing! !

While the rest of them retreated to the downstairs waiting room, I was taken upstairs to the X-ray/cast-manufacturing room. As I was taken in, I took a look around and thought, _Whoa! This hi-tech equipment is incredible! Totally state of the art! !_ I just took it all in with an amazed and awestruck expression, taking a seat in one of the chairs provided next to one of the examination tables. Very carefully, but not without wincing in pain a bit, I extremely cautiously laid my injured arm on the table to be examined. Measurements were soon taken, and the former bandage was incredibly carefully removed. Then my arm was very carefully bandaged in gauze up to just below my elbow until firm, then a sturdier material was used to cover that. A final colored material was the outermost layer that made the cast incredibly strong, so much so that not even a hammer could crack it, thus protecting my forearm from further damage.

Once that was finished, Theresa returned to assess my head injuries. She cautiously removed the bandages, then told me, "Your wounds are healing splendidly! You'll only need a small bandage over your head wounds this time." She took a piece of gauze, sprayed some antibiotics on it, then placed it on my forehead and secured it with a couple strips of medical tape. The spray stung a little, but I just reminded myself that it was just killing the disease-carrying organisms so my wound could heal.

I was then led back out and headed downstairs to the lobby where the others were waiting, still clutching the back of my gown so I wouldn't embarrass myself again.

"Hey, Neutron!" Libby hollered at me, "We broughtcha some extra clothes! Here, Cindy, take them to him."

"Thanks, Libs, I will," she replied, taking my hypercube to me, then telling me discretely, pointing, "Your clothes are in there. You can change in the nearby bathroom."

Luckily, I could still clutch things in my right hand, I just couldn't move my wrist any. While still using my left to cover myself up, I took it with the other, saying, "Thanks, Cin." I then went to the bathroom to change, emerging about 5 minutes later, feeling very relieved to be dressed normally again.

I just then noticed that Goddard was with them, so I called, "Here, boy! Here, Goddard!" He bounded up to me, jumped up, and began licking my face like crazy! I just laughed and gently pushed him away, saying, "Okay, boy, that's enough! I'm glad to see you, too!"

The 5 of us, plus Goddard, returned to the front desk. The woman managing it informed us, starting with me, "Well, James Neutron, you are recovering just splendidly! Your friends really have proved their true loyalty to you, and I commend you all for that. Dr. Lang has given you permission to return home. Just stay out of trouble while your body's healing, alright? All of you have a wonderful day, now! Take care now!"

"Thanks, ma'am!" we thanked her, and returned to our current mode of transportation, which happened to be my newest rocket that time. Then I wondered something: what happened to my hovercar? So I questioned, "Cindy, where's my hovercar?"

"At your place," she replied, "I didn't know what fuel you used for it since it ran out last, so I used this one, since you taught me how to drive it and all, heh-heh..."

"Well, that's fine with me, Cin," I informed her politely, taking the controls, starting it up, and rocketing out of there in no time at all. It was surprisingly easy to do so even with a cast on my arm.

With that rapid form of transportation, we were back in Retroville within 20 minutes. I had just landed in my front yard and stepped out with the rest of them when my mom came running up to me with outstretched arms. I hugged her back as she said, "Jimmy, oh, _Jimmy! !_ I was so desperately WORRIED about you! I'm so glad you're alright now! ! !"

"I'm fine now, Mom," I reassured her, "Those doctors in Phoenix were the best ever! It was a miracle I was only in a coma for a week!" Then I remembered something and added, "The screws that they've put inside my arm are part biological, Mom! Once my arm has completely healed, within 2 weeks, they'll take on the exact same material that my bones are made of."

"Is technology incredible or what, sweetie? !" she gasped in awe.

"It sure is, Mom, it sure is!" I responded confidently.

Then, suddenly, we heard a familiar cry of pain. I turned to see where it originated and saw that it was Cindy!

She groaned in pain as she gasped, "Jimmy, quick! Get a doctor! ! I think I'm in LABOR! ! ! _EEEERRRRRGGGHHH! ! ! ! !_"

It wasn't long before I heard yet another cry of agony, and saw that it was Libby! "Make that 2 ladies in labor, Neutron! DO somethin'! _AAAUUGH! ! ! !_"

_Brilliant, __just__ brilliant..._ I thought sarcastically to myself, _In labor __right__ on graduation day...! !_


	37. Chapter 37 Adding Injury to Labor Pains

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 37: Adding Injury to Labor Pains...

(Cindy's POV)

The feeling of being in labor can be compared to the feeling of turning inside-out or being split in half from the general waist area upward, and that's what being in labor felt like to me that day. It couldn't have happened on a worse day, which was the day we were scheduled to have our graduation ceremony.

"Cindy, are you okay? ?" Carl wanted to know, concerned.

With a huge strain in my voice as I tried to ride through the intense pain I was experiencing, I snapped, "Do I _look_ okay, Llama-Boy? ! I'm in LABOR, here! ! !" I looked over at Libby and saw that she was in similar pain to mine. Her contractions had forced her to sit right where she stood, straining immensely hard against it. With the both of us going through the same thing, I understood how she felt... I felt another intense contraction, then it finally subsided for the time being. "Whew! They're finished, at least for now...," I muttered, breathing a sigh of relief.

Libby groaned immensely, straining under the pain and pressure, then breathed a sigh of relief as her contractions seemed to subside for the moment, saying as she stood back up, "Phew, for the time bein', they're over..."

"Now...," I told them with a sigh of relief, "We oughtta start getting ready for our graduation ceremony! It starts at 7:30, so we have about 3 hours to prepare."

"I agree, Cin! Let's go!" Libby agreed, the 2 of us about to head to my place, but Jimmy stopped us

"Cindy, Libby, are you _kidding_ me? ! !" Jimmy exclaimed in disbelief, "Your bodies need this time to prepare for the birth of your children! ! You've just had your first set of contractions, and they're bound to become progressively more frequent as time passes!"  
>Sheen nodded and added, "He makes a forceful argument..."<p>

"Jimmy," I retorted, "I've waited my entire LIFE for this moment, and I am NOT about to pass up this glorious opportunity, labor pains or not! I'm not about to ruin my perfect attendance record, and that includes our graduation ceremony! !"

Emitting a sigh of defeat, he said, "Alright, Cindy, you win. But, as SOON as the ceremony's over, I'm escorting the _both_ of you to the hospital! Are we clear? !"

"Crystal," the 2 of us chimed in unison. Then I put in, "Let's go prepare ourselves, shall we? Libs and I will head to my place, and the 3 of you boys will use Jimmy's place."

"Deal!" the 5 of us agreed in unison, heading in separate directions to opposite homes.

Libby and I then headed to my place to prepare for the ceremony. After we headed inside and as we were ascending the stairs towards my room, I groaned as another contraction made itself known, forcing me to grab the railing as I bent over under the pressure.

Libby turned around and asked, "Cin, are ya SURE you're okay? ?"

Righting myself after a few moments, I replied with a deep breath, "Whew... Yeah, I'm fine. That was just a little one..."

She just glared at me slightly and muttered, "For _now..._"

The 2 of us retreated the rest of the way to my room, then shut the door behind us.

Libby took a seat in one of my fluffy lounge chairs, then wanted to know, "So, ya got any fancy outfits fo' us to wear this evenin'?"

I gave her a wink and nodded, saying, "You bet, Libs!" I reassured her, opening my closet's folding doors to reveal its contents, then picked out the 2 dresses we each would wear that evening and laid them neatly on my bed.

Then, Libby suddenly hunched over and groaned again, complaining, "Oh, great... Another contraction..." A few moments later, it seemed to subside as she sat upright again. "It's gone for now...," she informed me, then took a look at the dresses I'd laid out and got all starry-eyed.

"Well, what do ya think?" I asked, hands on my hips.

"Oh, it's absolutely _gorgeous! ! ! _Lavender is TOTALLY my color, and I adore the decorative rhinestones! ! Thank goodness this came with spaghetti straps an' in maternity size!" Libby exclaimed, leaping from her seat, picking up the dress, and holding it up to herself while admiring herself in my full-length mirror.

"Well...," I suggested, "Why don't ya go try it on in my bathroom? I'll try on mine, as well." My dress was just like hers, except it was a deep hunter green and it had a little bit of a lime green lace trim just above the bust area and below the skirt's hemline at the ankles.

"Awesome! !" she squealed, and did just that while I changed into mine in my bedroom. She emerged right as I finished zipping mine up. We took one look at eachother and squealed with delight at how beautiful we looked.

When we caught our breath a few moments later, Libby put in, "Let's pick out our shoes now!"

"Do let's!" I agreed, and we each picked out open-toe stiletto heels that matched our dresses and large rhinestones adorning the toe area. I gasped and practically squeaked, "Oh, my gosh! SO _CUTE! !_"

"Let's do our hair an' make-up now!" Libby told me excitedly, so we both hurried into the bathroom and applied it to our faces, lipstick, blush, eye shadow, the like... I spritzed on some body glitter spray, strawberry-scented, to my neck, chest, temple, and cheek bone regions for good measure, as did Libby.

I first braided my ponytail into a few braids, then twisted them around to form a bun and secured it with a few large, sparkly green flower clips. Libby stuck with her classic look adorned with mini lavender butterfly clips. All that primping took a good 2 and a half hours since we had contractions every so often.

"Last, but not least, jewelry!" I announced, rushing over to my jewelry box with her and selecting green rhinestone themed jewelry while Libby chose some amethyst pieces.

We each grabbed our matching purses, each with lipstick and our cell phones, and my Eau d' Amino Acid perfume in mine for good measure, as we headed out of the house and waited for Jimmy to escort us to Lindbergh High School in his hovercar.

The boys emerged from Jimmy's place within minutes, and I had to admit, they looked pretty fashionable for a few nerds, but that hardly even covered the surface when it came to Jimmy... He donned a tuxedo, not unlike what he had worn at that fake wedding for Jet Fusion and Beautiful Gorgeous so many years ago, and his hair was slicked back just like the time we were kid newscasters. He was definitely a LOT hotter compared to back then! !

I snapped back to reality with a jolt, making me suddenly jump a bit, when I heard Jimmy ask of us, seated in his hovercar's driver's seat with Carl and Sheen, "So, Cindy, Libby, shall we head over to the school now?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" I managed to say as she and I climbed in, I choosing the seat right next to him. Out of the corner of my eye, I couldn't help but notice Libby rolling her eyes at me sarcastically.

"Are we all buckled in?" Jimmy wanted to know before we took off.

"We are, but Carl isn't," Sheen teased, poking Carl playfully.

"Ow! Be careful, Sheen!" he yelped, rubbing his shoulder, "And yes, I AM buckled up, _Sheen! ! !_" He then blew a strawberry at him for good measure.

"You 2 either settle down or I'll have your parents take you!" Jimmy scolded.

"Sorry...," the 2 boys muttered in unison, buckling themselves in like he, Libby, and I had already done.

"Good. Now, let's go," he told us, starting up his hovercar and taking us on our way.

It only took us 10 minutes at the most to reach our school, then he piloted the hovercar to the parking lot and settled into a parking space. We all got out and proceeded to head inside.

We were heading upstairs to the second level and towards the rooms where we'd prepare for the ceremony when I grabbed the railing and lurched forward again, yet again in the pains of another contraction. That time, it lasted almost a whole minute before I could catch my breath again. Jimmy took notice and questioned, concerned, "Are you SURE you still wanna go through with this, Cin? ?"

I caught my breath and stood straight up again, then remarked with a light scoff, "Jimmy, are you _kidding_ me? ! Like I told ya before, I can handle myself, and I am NOT about to pass this up! ! !"

"If you say so, Cindy...," he said, but not without a stroke of intense concern in his tone of voice.

We then continued up the stairs to the second level of the school, then split into guys and girls as we headed to separate rooms to prepare for the ceremony.

When Libby and I arrived, we noticed that several more of our female classmates had gathered in the same room as us, putting the finishing touches on their hair, make-up, or anything else that needed last-minute primping.

Just before we headed down one of the hallways that connected the dressing rooms, guys and girls, to the auditorium where the graduation ceremony was taking place, I grabbed Britney's arm and snapped, "Britney Tenelli, a word? !"

"Uh, sure, Cindy...," she replied in an unsure tone, following me to where we were out of hearing range of the others. Then she added with a questionable look in her eyes, "What, like, IS it, Cindy? ?"

"Remember a couple weeks ago, when my friends and I finally got back from being missing for a couple months? SOMEONE started a rumor back then about Libby and me being sluts and the 2 of us sleeping around. Was that _you? !_" I hissed, tightly clutching my lime green pocketbook.

"Like, it was NOT me-," she began, but I didn't let her finish.

"Look, I KNOW it was you, cuz both you and Oleander are the school blabbermouths! Either admit it, or you'll be walking out of this school tied hand and foot with only your _hair! ! !_" I sneered, getting close to getting up IN her face. When it involves clearing things up about some rumor, I sure as heck don't mess around!

"Okay, OKAY, Cindy, jeez! !" Britney stammered, gently pushing me away from her, "Just get outta my, like, personal space, okay? ? I admit it; it was, like, me who started the rumor... Just don't hurt me! !"

I finally let go of her, satisfied that she'd admitted the truth to me. The 2 of us then joined the rest of the girls, and by then, they were already lined up alphabetically according to last name.

While waiting for my name to be called, I yet again felt another excruciating contraction, forcing me to bend over from the pain while clutching my protruding stomach. Britney obviously noticed my cries of pain, so she turned to face me and asked, taking one of my hands to support me, "Like, are you okay, Cindy? Do you, like, need to sit down?"

After an excruciating 5 minutes of labor pains, I stood upright again and informed her, "No, I'm fine now, Brit." I looked ahead of me and saw that they were all the way down to the "N's", with Jimmy accepting his diploma next.

This continued in an orderly fashion for the next 10 minutes until I heard my name being called by Principal Willoughby, me being one of the last students, with only Nissa Wellington, Carl Wheezer, and Ike Wolvermein still to accept theirs. I walked formally up to accept my diploma when I felt something wet. I knew immediately what had happened: my water had just broken and I had just started to go into true labor! With that, I walked quickly up to the principal, grabbed my diploma, then hurried offstage to the first 2 rows of seats and up to where Jimmy was already seated with Libby and Sheen not far off, breathing heavily.

"Is it time? !" he anxiously wanted to know.

"You bet! !" I told him as Carl was receiving his diploma. He apparently saw how much in pain I was, so he hurried down and joined us.

"We have GOT to get you to the hospital, STAT! !" Jimmy exclaimed, grabbing my arm and rushing me to the nearest exit, then down the stairs to the first floor with the others not far behind.

I was apparently running too fast in my stiletto heels, so on the last step to the first floor, I tripped and, since Jimmy was still clutching my arm, sent both of us flying forward and onto our stomachs. Thankfully, the floor below was carpeted and that softened the blow a bit.

"Ouch...," he muttered, rubbing his left forearm with his other hand, though it had the cast on it. He then sat up and looked over at me, saying while grabbing one of my arms and helping me up, "Cindy, are you alright? !"

Sitting completely upright, I stated, "I think so... I-" But when I tried to stand up, an intense pain flew through my right ankle as I put pressure on it. "YEOW! ! !" I yelped, the pain sending me back down onto my left knee with my right leg extended in front of me, "I think I just sprained it!"

Libby hurried over to me, being careful not to fall herself since she was also wearing stiletto heels, and knelt down beside me, asking while putting slight finger pressure on my ankle, "Does that hurt?"

I grimaced in pain as I replied, trying not to yell and attract attention, "Yes, OW! !" Then another familiar pain made itself known: another contraction, only that time I was in actual labor! I winced and groaned immensely, trying my hardest to fight the urge to push.

"It's sprained, all right! Let's get you to the hospital now!" Jimmy exclaimed, then added while picking me up, "Looks like I'll be carrying you since your ankle's sprained! Let's go, guys!"

With that, he whisked me off to the hovercar with the others not far behind. I just wrapped my arms around his neck gently while he rushed me over there. He then set me in the back of his hovercar, saying, "You'll do best in the back where there's more room for you to lay down. Sheen, you can take the front with me."

"Sweet! Shotgun! !" Sheen announced while clambering into the front passenger seat. Carl and Libby got in on either side of me and buckled themselves in, then Libby, being the awesome best friend she is, buckled me in, as well. Sheen and Jimmy were the last ones to buckle up, then he started it up and sent us outta there in a flash!

While on the way there, Libby gasped and looked down at her lap, then interjected hurriedly, "Neutron, ya better hurry up! My water just broke, too!"

I laid my arm around her shoulder and reassured her, straining against the urge to push, "Just hang in there, Libs. I'm sure we'll be just fine!"

"Hang in there, ladies! We're almost there!" Jimmy put in as we fast approached the hospital.


	38. Chapter 38 Two Little Miracles!

**Just so y'all aren't confused, I am planning to develop the kids in this one in future chapters. Okay, the original 5 will be the main ones, but their children will gradually become more involved. And by the way, did you not notice the reason they had to do such an embarrassing thing cuz of the humidity and high temperature, AND that I had Cindy and Libby solve the embarrassing part of it? Just so you guys won't be wigged out again, I'm letting you in on something... When they were slightly younger, Jimmy developed contact lenses that would censor everything inappropriate if something like that ever happened to them. That's the last time it'll ever happen; you have my word on it. I swear it! ^_^ And their ages are 17/18, so they're practically adults here.**

** And the thing Carl pointed out in an earlier chapter? That was because the 2 were trying to be secretive about their relationship as it blossomed over the years, and it became harder and harder to keep hidden. So Carl started getting suspicious and sneaking around when Jimmy and Cindy thought they were alone. That's how he eventually found out. But they never saw him, and since going on so many adventures made him slimmer over time, it was easier for him to squeeze into areas he couldn't before, though he still has numerous fears, allergies, and medical problems. Hopefully that's cleared any skepticism about this you all may have had previously... __And keep this between US, got it? ? Please don't blab it to anyone who hasn't read this yet, okay? ?__**

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 38: Two Little Miracles!

(Libby's POV)

Right as we entered the parking lot of Retroville Memorial Hospital, I heard a familiar ringtone resound. I checked inside my pocketbook to see if it was mine, but my phone wasn't ringing. I glanced over and saw Cindy pick hers up, even though she was in an incredible amount of pain, as was I. She apparently saw me with a questionable look on my face, so she told me, "It's Nissa...

"Yes, Nissa. I'm fully aware of that! What did you call for when Libs and I are about to head into the hospital while in labor? ! You should be fully aware of that; you saw me with my contractions while at the ceremony! Yes, you may come see them after they're born, but for the time being, we need to be alone with our friends. Thanks, Nissa; we'll need it... Good-bye, Nissa," she informed the individual on the other end, then hung up.

"So, that was Nissa?" I asked, trying to keep my cool while straining against the urge to push.

"Yeah, Libs," Cindy told me, then added, "We'd better get in there! Our kids are gonna be born any time now! !"

Jimmy clambered out of his hovercar, then grabbed Cindy from her post in the back seat. "Hang in there, Cindy! We're on our way in!" he reassured her, carrying her ever so gently while she had her arms draped around his neck.

Sheen, being the wonderful boyfriend that he is, helped me out, then let me lay my arm over his shoulder as he walked me inside while Carl got out on his own and hurried up to the rest of us.

While Sheen gently yet somewhat quickly walked me into the hospital, Jimmy, on the other hand, with amazing endurance and strength for someone his height and build, rapidly rushed Cindy inside while making sure to hold onto her tightly. As soon as they reached the front desk, Sheen and I arrived a couple moments later with Carl rushing up behind us, breathing heavily to catch his breath.

"May I help you?" the woman at the front desk questioned helpfully, a friendly smile on her face.

"Hello? ! ! I'm in LABOR, here! !" Cindy snapped, glaring at her despite the pain she was experiencing.

"You GOTTA help my girlfriend! She's gonna have a baby! !" Sheen exclaimed, banging the counter with his fist.

I just screamed in pain as it continued to worsen while the seconds ticked by, breathing heavily, which I'm sure made everyone around me cringe.

She immediately got a frightened look on her face, then rushed off to find a labor and delivery doctor to assist us.

Moments later, she returned with a doctor to assist us. He appeared to have a Japanese ancestry, yet spoke with a perfect American accent when he introduced himself and said, "I am Dr. Watoshi. Please send these ladies to the Labor and Delivery ward, stat! Young man, I'm going to have to request that you let your girlfriend stand on her own."

"With all due respect, doctor," Jimmy informed him, a frustrated look on his face, "Cindy here has a sprained ankle!"

"Very well, then," he replied, then turned to an attendant and requested, "Please get Cindy a wheelchair, if you will."

The attendant hurried off for a few moments, then returned with a wheelchair at hand. Jimmy then very carefully set Cindy into it, making sure not to jar her sprained ankle. After they kissed eachother briefly, the attendant wheeled Cindy away to the delivery room.

Then, suddenly, my contractions became almost unbearable. "I can't...take it...anymore!" I cried with a huge strain in my voice, "I GOTTA sit down! !"

"Breathe, Libby, breathe!" Sheen urged me, "It helps a bit! Just like in Ep-"

"Not...NOW, Sheen...," I snapped, breathing rhythmically. Right then was not the time for a childish UltraLord reference! Before I knew it, another attendant brought a wheelchair up, in which I gratefully sat down in. Sheen gave me a quick kiss, then the attendant wheeled me off with Dr. Watoshi at her side.

A few antagonizing minutes later, I was wheeled into the Labor and Delivery room, then handed a hospital gown to change into. I got up and made my way to the spare bathroom nearby with it, then emerged a minute or 2 later with my belongings in a plastic bag and carefully climbed into the bed provided. The attendant, Natasha, took my belongings to a nearby chair and set them beside it for me. It was only then that I looked over to my left and saw Cindy about 7 feet away, her ankle wrapped firmly in an Ace bandage to keep it secure. For the moment, she was resting in order to save energy for when it came time to deliver her child. That didn't seem like a half-bad idea to me, so I laid down and tried to relax. The contractions seemed to leave me for the time being, so then I could completely relax and rest myself. It was so comfortable I accidentally ended up falling asleep...

I was awakened by screams a few hours later around midnight, so I sat bolt upright and looked over at Cindy. She was in so much pain that she had broken into a sweat and become red in the face, practically in tears as she hunched over in the pain of another contraction. A nurse hurried in to check on her condition, then lifted the sheet and examined her. With a nod, she said to herself, "Mm-hm! Ten centimeters, fully dilated!" She got out a radio and informed the other end, "Cindy Vortex is ready to deliver her child!"

Almost immediately, 2 other nurses hurried in and prepared her for her big moment. Then, after her feet were placed in the provided footrests, the head nurse, Layla, encouraged her, "Okay, Cindy, take a deep breath and PUSH! !"

Gritting her teeth and red in the face, she strained and pushed as hard as she could as they counted to 10, then took a breather. These actions were repeated several times.

Then, I heard the door open and to my surprise, in came Jimmy and Sheen with masks and scrubs over their clothes.

"Sheen? Neutron? !" I gasped, "What are y'all doin' here? !"

Sheen came over to my bedside and stated, "I'd NEVER miss my girlfriend's big moment, Libs!"

"Same here! The doctor gave us permission to be here with you," Jimmy added, then turned to Cindy and urged gently, "Hang in there, Cin! I can see a head emerging!"

With one last push, I heard another cry, but this time it wasn't Cindy! She'd just given birth to her child! As the child fully emerged, Jimmy excitedly informed her, "It's a girl, Cindy! It's our daughter!"

The umbilical cord was gently disconnected, then she was taken to be cleaned off and wrapped in a blanket.

"So, Cin," I asked her, "What's her name?"

"Marie Curie Neutron," she commented confidently, breathing a sigh of relief.

Then, almost like clockwork, I suddenly felt an almost unbearable pain that made me practically scream in agony. "It hurts! IT HURTS! ! !" I yelled, hunching over and placing my feet in the footrests while I grabbed the bed's handrails like a vicegrip.

Sheen laid his hand on mine and told me, "Hang in there, Libby! !"

While Marie was brought back in, Layla and a couple other nurses came to me and prepared me for labor. She lifted the sheet to check, then added to the others, "Yep, she's fully dilated! Libby, it's time."

"Thank goodness!" I gasped.

"You probably feel an urge to push, right?" the second nurse, Christie, wanted to know.

I could only nod my reply as I grimaced through the pain.

"Now you can act on it!" she reassured me, then the same process Cindy went through was repeated several times, and an antagonizing 5 minutes later, I heard a welcome cry as my child entered the world. I breathed a sigh of relief as her umbilical cord was cut, then she was taken to be cleaned and wrapped up.

"What's her name, Libs?" Sheen asked.

"Taylor Swift Estevez," I replied, a satisfied smile spread across my face.

"Aw, Libs, she's beautiful!" Cindy cooed as Taylor was brought back to me and placed in my arms.

"Thanks, Cindy... Marie is just darlin'!" I commented.

"Isn't she, though? ?" Jimmy whole-heartedly agreed with me, very tenderly stroking his daughter's chin.

Marie opened her sapphire eyes and gazed at her parents for a moment or 2, then I was astounded as she opened her mouth and uttered her first words, right after birth, "Mama. Dada."

Sheen just stared, wide-eyed, and exclaimed, "Whoa! !"

"That's one smart child you've got there, Cin!" I complimented her as I began to nurse Taylor.

"I'm very impressed," Cindy noted with a proud look in her eyes.

"Likewise! My parents once told me that, when I was first born, I'd spoken my first words, as well," Jimmy added, a thoughtful look on his face, "Just like her to take after her father. I think we have a little genius here!"

"Congrats, Jimmy!" Sheen put in with a huge grin on his face.

"Yeah," I agreed, "Congratulations!"

Adventures for our 2 little families were only just beginning!


	39. Chapter 39 An Awkward Proposal

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 39: An Awkward Proposal

(Sheen's POV)

It had been 3 months since Taylor's birth, and she was getting more adorable with each passing day. It started out as a normal day, with me actively playing my video games that afternoon while Libby took care of Taylor at her place. I was playing the latest UltraLord video game, Ultra Universe Quest, and was battling the level 7 boss when my cell phone rang. I put the game on pause and went to answer it, picking it up, pressing the "talk" button, and saying, "Hello? ?"

"Hey, sweetie! !" came the familiar voice on the opposite end. It was my sweet, ultra-awesome girlfriend Libby! ! She sure sounded excited when she spoke to me! I wondered what she had to say...

"Hey, 'Love Puppet'! What's up?" I wanted to know.

"Hon', you are NOT gonna believe this...! ! !" she began, "Get yo' butt over here right now! ! Our daughter- well, you better come see for yourself!"

"I'll be right over, Ultra-Libs! !" I informed her, a huge grin spreading on my face.

She just giggled and replied, "See ya soon! 'Bye!"

"Bye, Libs!" I concluded, and hung up. Boy, was I ever psyched! ! Whatever was going on with Taylor, it had to be MEGA exciting, so I stopped my game, saved my progress, and hurried right over to her house, eager to find out what was happening!

I knocked on the front door impatiently, and within seconds, Libby answered it. "What's so exciting, babe? !" I eagerly asked of her.

"Come see fo' yourself! !" she urged with an ecstatic grin, grabbing my arm and pulling me inside and into the living room, then pointed and added, "Right over there, Sheen! !"

I hurried over and immediately was in awe! Our little girl was just starting to crawl! I squatted down to her level, looked into her hazel eyes, and coaxed, clapping my hands slightly, "Crawl to Daddy, Taylor! Come on!"

Taylor looked first at me, then Libby, who was right next to me in the same pose, then back to me, cocked her head a bit, then lifted herself off the floor and inched forward a few paces. Then, seeing as gravity had proven too much for her at the moment, she plopped back down on her stomach again, sprawled out. I took one of her little golden-skinned hands and reassured her, who seemed to be a bit startled and start to whimper a bit, "It's okay, Taylor! You'll get better soon! You're just starting to learn, that's all. You'll be fine."

Slowly, a smile spread on her face, which told me she understood and knew she was gonna be just fine.

Suddenly, my watch started blaring an alarm like crazy! It was some hi-tech communicator watch Jimmy made me one year for my birthday. I pressed one of its buttons and Jimmy's image appeared on its screen. "What is it this time, Jimmy? ?" I wanted to know.

"You need to come to my lab right away!" he urged me on the other end, his voice hurried and anxious.

"I just started to play with Taylor, and guess what? ! She's starting to crawl now!" I informed him proudly, "And also, I think we need to stick together as a family, no matter what we do."

"Then bring them along! I'm gonna call Carl and get him over here, as well. This is _urgent! !_" Jimmy persisted, and hung up, my watch's screen going black.

"Well, it looks like we're goin' to the lab, babe," I hastily informed Libby, looking over at her.

"What? ! All 5 of us? ? We can't leave our kids behind, Sheen! !" she protested.

"I know. I told Jimmy that, and he said we might as well bring Taylor with us, like Cindy will bring Marie. He said it was extremely urgent!" I added rather anxiously.

"Okay, good. Ya up fo' another adventure, hon?" she wanted to know, picking up Taylor and gesturing to the baby carrier you could strap to yourself to carry a child while leaving your hands free, which I immediately grabbed and fastened onto myself. Libby then gently placed our daughter in it with her facing me, with me proceeding to fasten her in firmly yet gently.

I stroked her jet black curly locks around her ear and softly told her, "Mommy and I are gonna go on an adventure! This'll be fun!"

She just gurgled and cooed her response as she looked up at me and grinned her adorable toothless grin. Libby smiled and said, giggling softly, "Aw, how cute! Let's go, Sheen!"

"Right!" I agreed, heading out of her place, down the road a few blocks, and arriving at Jimmy's place in under a minute.

Just as we expected, he was waiting for us with an anxious look on his face, accompanied by Carl, Cindy, and his daughter Marie. She looked exceptionally cute, with her auburn hair pulled into pigtails and gazing at us while on all fours with her brilliant green eyes. She donned a cute pink teddy bear t-shirt with some sparkle jeans and tiny purple tennis shoes.

"Hello, Sheen? We have an urgent situation here! !" Jimmy reminded me firmly, waving his hand in front of my face, startling me a bit. I guess I had been admiring his daughter so much I forgot to listen to what he had to say!

I shook my head vigorously, then managed to say, "Oh, sorry, Jimmy. Marie is just so cute..." Taylor proceeded to look up at me again with a curious look in her eyes, then giggled.

Cindy apparently took notice of this and pointed out, "Libs, your daughter just laughed for the first time! How adorable is THAT? !"

"Guys, focus! !" Jimmy urged us, catching our attention again as Cindy picked up her daughter, "We have a dire situation on our hands! Let's head into my lab, stat!" With that, he pressed a button on his watch that teleported all 7 of us inside. Once inside, he sat at his lab chair and got right to work, typing furiously on his keyboard.

"So, Cin," Libby questioned, "What's new with your daughter, Marie?"

"Well," she replied, setting her down on the lab's concrete floor, "Marie here is just starting to walk and is speaking in broken sentences already! I think we have a little genius here!"

Marie giggled, sitting upright and nodding, and added, "Me smart! Me smart!" She then got up onto her 2 feet and toddled a few steps, then fell forward, but that didn't even seem to phase her, seeing as she just giggled afterwords. We all just laughed ourselves as we watched her, all save Jimmy, who was still hard at work.

Carl smiled at her admiringly, then turned to Jimmy and wanted to know, "So, what seems to be the problem, Jim?"

"A little busy, here, Carl! But, I will say that I'm currently trying to figure out how the villains escaped the late Cretaceous Period after being trapped there for 6 years, or has it been 6 years _since_ they've escaped? ! This is all very puzzling...," he mused to himself, continuing to type furiously.

Libby apparently noticed how quiet I was, so she asked, "Sheen, hon, are you feeling okay? You haven't really said anything in a while..."

"Libby, I'm fine," I told her, "I'm just deep in thought about something..."

"Well, that's a first...," she told herself aloud. She then went elsewhere to listen to some music for a while.

_Let's see..._ I thought to myself, _Just HOW can I pull this off? ? I mean, how DO most guys propose to their girlfriends? It usually involves something romantic, but just __what's__ romantic for Libby? ! It's all very __confusing for me! I hope I get some ideas soon, cuz she probably won't want anything UltraLord-related... This is gonna be hard for me; I can tell..._

My thoughts were interrupted when Jimmy announced, almost scaring the heck outta me, "Guys, I've figured it out! ! What they had to do to escape was..."

As he was explaining himself, my gaze wandered to Marie again while the others paid attention to Jimmy. While I was watching her, I noticed her pulling herself up again and attempting to take a few more steps. Unfortunately, she was dangerously close to one of his control panels as she toddled ever closer, then stumbling again and catching herself this time on a nearby stool. She looked at it, then at the control panel above her, then climbed up onto the stool and stood up, steadying herself with the edge of it.. I had a bad feeling what would come next!

All the blinking lights must've fascinated her, because she exclaimed in awe, "Ooo! Pretty lights!" Without warning, she began pressing all the buttons at once randomly, as well as pulling a lever or 2.

Naturally, this frightened me, so I ran up to Jimmy while yelling, "Jimmy, JIMMY! ! ! Over there, your daughter is-! !"

He immediately took notice of my cries and saw where I was frantically pointing, so he hurried over with me while saying urgently, "Marie, no! ! Don't pull that-!"

But he was too late. All those buttons she pushed and levers she pulled really did it in for all 7 of us. Before we knew what was happening, our surroundings instantly changed from his lab to some primitive grassland with some tribal huts in the distance and some random trees dotting the area.

"Jimmy, where are we? !" Carl nervously asked him.

"From observing our surroundings carefully, according to my calculations, we have been transported back in time to the Stone Age!" he informed us.

"Great. JUST great...," Cindy griped, slapping her forehead, "Thanks a lot, _genius! !_ If you hadn't spent so much time jabbering and instead paid attention to your daughter, we wouldn't be IN this mess! !"

"In case you're forgetting, Cindy, she's YOUR daughter, too!" Jimmy reminded her, annoyed.

"Oh, yeah. She's still your responsibility, though!" she snapped, clearly irritated, "Which you _failed_ to keep watch of!"

"If you'd been watching her, we wouldn't BE in this mess, now would we? !" he retorted.

All that arguing clearly worried Marie, so she crawled up to them and yanked on their pant legs while urging, "Mommy, Daddy, pwease, no fight! No fight!"

Jimmy let out a sigh of defeat and muttered, "I just can't say no to that cute little face... She's right, though. We shouldn't be fighting; we should be working together to get out of this."

We all voiced our agreement, nodding simultaneously.

Then I thought to myself, _Rats! Now that we're in the Stone Age, I can't come up with anything to propose to Libby! It's officially ruined! !_ Then I suddenly remembered something. _Of __course__! ! DUH! ! ! _I said to myself, feeling very stupid,feeling the ring container in my back pocket,_ I put this here in case I ever needed it! Sure was worth my last 80 bucks!_ I then muttered to myself, "It's a good thing I have it in my back pocket. That way, I'm not screwed!"

Unfortunately, I wasn't quiet enough about it, cuz Libby asked, "What's in yo' back pocket?"

Trying to keep her from finding before I was ready, I kept facing her as I tried to back away, saying nervously and handing her Taylor in her carrier, "Trust me, babe! You- you wouldn't wanna find out about it too early!" I wasn't watching where I was headed, though, and ended up tripping on a root backwards and landing on my back, then a slight incline in the ground made me turn over onto my stomach. "Okay, that hurt... Ouch." I said, rubbing my lower back.

Libby bent over to get a closer look after strapping our daughter in, then wanted to know while reaching into the pocket and grabbing its contents, "What's this in your back pocket? ?"

"It's nothing, really, Libby! Honest! !" I tried to convince her, turning over and sitting upright.

She examined the container, then opened it and gasped, "A ring? ! Sheen, why didn't ya _tell_ me? !"

"I was wanting it to be a surprise...," I admitted, defeated, getting up onto my feet. Then I had a thought and exclaimed, "Hey, wait a minute! Isn't the _guy_ supposed to do this? ? Gimme that!"

She reluctantly handed it to me, then I got down on one knee and looked up at her with pleading eyes, opening the ring case with it facing her.

"Sheen, is this-? !" Libby began, but I held up my hand for silence.

"Yes, it is, Libs. Liberty Danielle Folfax, beautiful, flawless Libby," I continued, "Will you marry me?"

"Sheen, this is so awkward, with our current situation an' all, but how can I resist such an adorable face? ! Yes, the answer's YES! !" she practically squealed, pulling me up to my feet again.

The others had apparently witnessed the whole thing, cuz Cindy interjected, "Aw, how romantic is THAT? ! Of course, I'd want whoever proposed to me to be _just_ as romantic, if not more so! !"

Libby slipped on the ring, then the 2 of us rejoined the group.

"Aw, that was so sweet, Sheen!" Carl told me with a huge grin on his face.

"Thanks, Carl. I do what I can for my Libby-licious here!" I responded.

Libby just giggled flirtatiously when she heard that, saying, "I just love it when he calls me that...!" Then she faced Cindy and gushed, "Oh, my gosh! I can't believe I'm finally engaged! !"

"Words can't describe how happy I am for the both of you. But despite that fact, we're still trapped in the Stone Age, and have yet to find a way to get back to our time...," Jimmy reminded us firmly, picking up his daughter and beginning to think seriously about our situation...


	40. Chapter 40 A Primitive Land

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 40: A Primitive Land...

(Carl's POV)

I could still see that Cindy and Libby were pretty annoyed with our current situation, so I made an attempt to make the best of it by saying, "Okay, so we're in the Stone Age now... We've been worse off than this before, like the time the entire town got warped back several million years and all those villains were after Jimmy..."

"Oh, I could think of something worse than that, Carl!" Cindy sarcastically commented, shuddering heavily, "Like when Neutron and I switched minds? ! I nearly saw things I shouldn't have at that age! !"

"Yeah," Jimmy heartily agreed, "Likewise with my situation! I put off relieving myself as long as I could, until at the end of the day I couldn't bear it any longer! Once your insane mother had gone to bed, I left all the lights off and shut the door behind me as I relieved myself in the dark... God, you can only imagine how humiliating _that_ was! I nearly tripped on your wet bathroom floor 3 times! ! !"

"You think THAT'S bad, Jimmy? !" she interjected, an even more humiliated look on her face, "I had slipped in a mud puddle after it had rained the first night right after we'd switched places, getting INSANELY filthy after I'd taken out the trash, so your mom _insisted_ that I bathe before bed! She almost had to literally drag me into the bathroom by the shirt collar! I finally convinced her that I could take care of myself after 10 whole minutes, so she left me be afterwords. I had to shut off the lights and stuff a towel underneath the bathroom door before going through with it! I couldn't help but notice while I bathed, even though it was pitch black, that I had a little something _extra..._ That really freaked me out, so I hurried and finished and dressed myself, then flipped the lights back on so I could see where the laundry chute was and toss your mom your dirty clothes. Now if THAT wasn't a nightmare, I dunno _what_ is! !"

Flushing extremely hard, he muttered to her in a voice I could barely hear, "Be thankful that you weren't in a _public location_ when that happened! ! I definitely know how that feels, and it's NOT fun one bit! ! !"

That got the rest of us insanely curious, so we all sat on some nearby rocks while I asked, "What exactly was so horrible, Jim? !"

"I'd prefer to not share such an experience, but given all the interested looks on your faces, I guess I'll tell you..," Jimmy nervously informed us, resting his elbows on his knees and his forehead in the palms of his hands, "Ugh... It was the most _humiliating_ experience I ever went through! ! Remember how you used to wish I'd go to college and leave Lindbergh Elementary behind? Well, I went, but I soon wished I hadn't, due to everything the students put me through! Especially this one student who was particularly jealous of my intelligence, Seymour Nimmelfarb! What I had gone through beforehand was _nothing_ compared to what he ultimately made me do!"

"So, what was it he forced you to go through with?" Cindy persisted.

He responded so quietly that none of us could make out what he said. "Could ya say that again, Jimmy? None of us could hear you just now," Sheen reminded him.

"I said, 'he forced me to streak on the campus'! ! He told me it would finally get me accepted by my peers there, when it _really_ got me EXPELLED! ! ! That freaking _jerk! !_" Jimmy exclaimed in frustration, almost letting out a scream afterword as he temporarily lifted his head from his hands, then covering his entire face that time.

Marie crawled up to him, supported herself with her hands on his knee, and said in attempt to comfort him, "It okay, Daddy. It over now."

He slowly removed his hands from his face, looked into her adorable emerald eyes, and picked her up onto his lap, a smile slowly spreading across his face and his eyes watering a bit. With that, she got up on her 2 tiny feet, took a couple steps, and landed on his chest with her little arms spread wide, an adorable grin on her face. He gently hugged her back, then told her, "Thanks, Marie. I needed that."

"Welcome," she replied, and climbed down from his lap to the ground, then crawled over to Cindy, who picked her up gratefully and held her.

Libby unstrapped Taylor for a moment, turned her around so she could face the others, and strapped her back in again. Taylor had somehow seen that entire thing, so she clapped a bit and giggled in approval.

"Aw, how sweet," I observed, then something moving in the distance caught my eye. I turned to face it, and immediately recognized what it was: a llama! ! "I don't believe it!" I gasped, "I didn't know they had llamas in the Stone Age! !"

"Pffft, llamas. BIG deal...," Sheen remarked, rolling his eyes.

"I heard that, Sheen! !" I reprimanded him, annoyed, and stuck my tongue out at him as I turned to face him.

"Sheen," Libby scolded him, "It's obviously a big deal to Carl, so leave him be!" Taylor seemed to agree with her, so she blew a strawberry at him as a retort.

I turned back around to see the llama again, but it was nowhere to be found, no matter where I looked. It must've gotten scared by our little spat, so it ran off. Oh, well... I then turned to face Jimmy and asked, "So, how far back in time _have_ we gone, Jim? ?"

Jimmy took a look at his multi-purpose watch and did some calculations on it, then looked at me solemnly and said, "Approximately 11,000 years, based on our surroundings alone..."

"Aw, man! Is UltraLord still around? !" Sheen griped.

"Shut UP, Ultra-Loser! !" Cindy snapped, "We're in the PAST, not the future, you dimwit! ! ! That stupid show of yours doesn't even _exist_ yet! !"

"Rats!" he complained, glaring at no one in particular.

"So, it's about 9,000 BC, right?" Libby clarified.

"That would be the correct approximation, Libby," Jimmy told her informatively, "We're in the Neolithic Era, the New Stone Age, where agriculture is just beginning to be utilized. Civilization is just beginning, and tribes are less nomadic and more settled."

"And just WHERE are we, Jimmy?" Cindy wanted to know, a bit irritated.

"We're in what will become ancient Sumeria, according to my calculations," he informed her and the rest of us, entering in a bit more data into his watch, "The location of some of the very first cities in human history. For now, though, there are only primitive villages here and there, and will be that way until the 4th millennium BC."

"So that nearby river must be the Tigris, right? Connected downriver to the Euphrates?" she guessed.

"That is correct, Cindy. You sure know your ancient Mesopotamian history!" Jimmy congratulated her, clearly impressed with her history knowledge.

"Well, when you make grades as good as I do, you've gotta be prepared for anything!" Cindy added, blushing pretty hard with a light giggle.

"Not to mention a photographic memory...," he put in, flushing and laughing softly.

"Are y'all forgettin' where we are? !" Libby sharply reminded them, waving her hand in front of their faces.

Shaking his head vigorously a bit and clearing his throat, Jimmy returned to reality and agreed, saying, "You're right, Libby. We've got to work together to get outta this mess my daughter accidentally got us into."

"I think we should seek shelter in the nearest village, but there's NO way we're blending in looking the way we do now. Our apparel is far too modern!" Cindy reminded them.

He just smirked with a light chuckle and replied, "Luckily, I've brought my hypercube equipped with anything we'll need, including some disguise-wristbands to help us blend into the village. I've made one for each of us, including our children, which explains their small size for 2 of them."

"Anything to not get in trouble with the natives!" I exclaimed, taking one as he offered them to each of us and slipping it on. Once we were wearing them, it conformed to the shape of our wrists and matched our skin color, then changed our outfits to match the time period, pelts made from animal skins we could both see and feel.

Libby took one look at hers and remarked, "I was hopin' for somethin' a little more in-style than this... I mean, my baby harness has turned into a sling made from deer skin! An' this outfit made from buffalo pelts is _itchy! !_"

"Sorry, but that's what it'll take to blend in in this neolithic millennium," Jimmy responded, a slight tinge of disappointment in his voice, "And that would be mammoth pelts you're all wearing, not buffalo. Buffalo aren't indigenous to Mesopotamia."

"Mammoth? But I thought the ice age was over," Cindy reasoned, clearly a bit confused.

"In the time period we inhabit, the last ice age happened 10,000 years ago, meaning it ended in 8,000 BC, but since we've been warped, it's currently 9,000 BC, 1,000 years before it ends," he corrected her.

"So, lemme get this straight... Gigantic glaciers are still covering some of Earth's continents? !" Libby gasped, a terrified look in her eyes.

"Yes, but don't panic! It's alright," Jimmy reassured her, "We're in an area where there are no longer any glaciers. They're farther north of us, where present-day Denmark is located, as well as where modern-day Canada begins."

"Whew! That's a relief! !" Sheen breathed, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

Then I had a thought... "Hey, where's Goddard?" I wondered aloud.

"Oh, he's right over there, inside that nearby bush," he informed me, pointing to a bush a few yards away from us, "He used that for cover as he activated his camouflage feature to look like a domesticated wolf. C'mere, boy!"

Goddard poked his head out of the bush, cocked his head a bit, then bounded up to him, looking almost exactly like a miniature wolf.

"Okay," Cindy decided, "Shouldn't we head into the village now? ?"

"Yeah, but did that thing of yours disguise our hair, too, Jimmy? They're bound to suspect something if it's not looking like that of the villagers," Sheen pointed out, running his fingers through his.

He gave that a few moments of thought, then said, "Good point, Sheen. Thankfully, it did, giving each of us a primitive appearance, from top to bottom. Now, let's head in! Just remember to act like we've lived here our whole lives, okay?"

The rest of us gave a positive response, signifying that we all understood him, then we began making our way towards the tribe.

As we approached the stone wall of the village, some movement just beyond the gate caught my eye. I leaned over to Sheen and whispered, "That must've been one of the villagers running around just inside the village..."

"Yeah, I saw them, too," he quietly agreed with me, nodding.

One of them looked through the large peephole in the gate, then stuck his head full of ratty and matted hair through the partially-opened gate and asked us something in a strange language. Then, suddenly, something inside me could understand what he was saying! Right after I'd heard his question, my brain somehow translated the strange language into English, which was, "Do you have the authority to enter this village, strangers? ?"

With that, I leaned over to Jimmy and whispered, "Jimmy, I can somehow understand what he's saying! I think I'm going crazy! !"

"You're not, Carl!" he whispered back, "My disguise-wristband I made each of you is doing that."

"Oh, good!" I breathed, then turned to the gatekeeper and began to speak, and the language that left my mouth was the same that the gatekeeper spoke! That fancy device Jimmy'd made must've been doing that, too! After quickly getting over the shock, I told him in his language, "I'm sorry, sir. We're travelers from a nomadic tribe, and we're lost. Could we stay in your tribe?"

"So, I see...," he replied, giving it some thought, then nodded and added, opening the gate for us, "You certainly may! Enjoy yourselves!"

As we walked in, Sheen commented, "Whoa, that was awesome, Carl! How'd you DO that? !"

"The device Jimmy made each of us," I confidently informed him.

Jimmy just smirked and told us, "It's the same for the rest of us, too."

Our adventures in that village were just beginning!


	41. Chapter 41- Lost In Time

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 41: Lost in Time...

(Jimmy's POV)

Our adventures in that lowly village had only just begun. We could not, absolutely could NOT, even _hint at_ the fact that we were from the future to these superstitious villagers. For if we did, in ANY way, we'd be burned at the stake, for sure. I could not, and _would not_, let that happen to us. It was a good thing my invention I equipped everyone with was discrete enough to not be detected; it could bend with the exact same flexibility as our own wrists, and it matched our skin colors and textures exactly. My watch was also disguised as a fur pelt wristband, except when I activated it. I would not do so unless it was absolutely necessary. For the time being, however, that didn't concern me. We were only focused on blending into their culture. So far, the task was a complete success in doing so.

"Okay, so where exactly are we gonna live while we're stuck here? ?" Libby wanted to know as we made our way through the various huts in the village.

"I hope we can find someplace that's cozy and inviting, and that we're accepted into this place...," Carl noted, clearly concerned.

"Guys, don't worry about it. I've got this prehistoric thing down!" Sheen bragged, acting as if he was examining a manicure.

"Boy, I sure hope so, Sheen...," Libby told him, glaring at the hyperactive teen with her arms folded.

"Don't worry, babe! I got this!" he claimed, trying to act cool. With that, he ran to the nearest hut and pulled back the fur pelt that hung in the doorway.

"Are you sure you should be doing that, Sheen?" Cindy questioned him, hands on her hips.

"Relax, Cindy! What's gonna happen? ?" he tried to convince her, temporarily turning his head to face her, then turned to look inside. A couple stone lamps lit up the otherwise dark hut, illuminating the sleeping silhouette of a young girl approximately our age. She was covered with a camel pelt to serve as a blanket and a mammoth pelt that served as her bed. Some primitive clay pots lay stacked nearby, along with some primitive utensils. Sheen just giggled immaturely as he watched her sleep, but Libby was in earshot of him as he did that.

She slapped him on the face after dragging him away, saying firmly, "Need I remind ya that we're _engaged_, Sheen? ! Stop that! !"

Carl looked at us uneasily and informed us, pointing at the girl, "Uh, guys? I think we just woke her up..."

I looked around, concerned, and pointed out, glancing at the girl, who was now sitting up and glaring at us, "I think we should make a run for it! She doesn't look happy to see us! !"

"I second that! Let's beat it! !" Cindy agreed, picking up Marie and making a break for it with the rest of us. But a voice calling after us made us stop in our tracks and turn around, searching for the source.

"Uh, who's there?" Libby called out in the primitive language thanks to that nifty invention I'd made.

"It's okay; you may come back," the female voice encouraged us.

We wandered back to where we'd left, curious as to who was calling to us. "I think it's coming from that hut we left, Jimmy," Carl reminded me, pointing.

"You're right. That was me calling you," the female voice said in a friendly tone, "Just one moment, though. I'll be right out..."

"Well, okay," I told her, and waited with the rest of my group. About a minute later, she emerged from her hut, wearing a similar pelt outfit that Cindy and Libby did. Her black hair was surprisingly neat and tangle-free compared to the other villagers we'd seen running around, and she had an olive skin color to her, like many others in the modern Middle East or southern Europe in the Mediterranean. Her eyes were black as coal in the modern coal mines in the present-day United States.

She apparently noticed that we were staring at her, so she spoke up and added, "What are you all staring at? Does my abdominal pelt look stained or something? ?"

"Oh, sorry about that! No, it's not that. It's just that... you're so different from everyone else in this tribe...," Cindy admitted, blushing a bit.

"That's because I'm the tribe leader's daughter. I'm Anya, by the way," she explained, "My father's always pressuring me to look my best, to set an example for my people."

"A real pleasure to meet you, Anya," I politely told her, gesturing to each of my friends as I introduced them and myself, "I'm Jimmy, and these are Cindy, Libby, Sheen, and Carl. And the little girl Cindy's holding is our daughter, Marie, and that's Sheen and Libby's daughter Taylor in Libby's baby sling."

"Nice to meet you all! I see you are not from this area, that you have traveled a long way," Anya noticed.

"Yeah, an' we're exhausted," Libby put in, lifting her pelt a bit so Taylor could nurse and sitting on a nearby rock.

"Well, it is nearing sunset, so why don't you stay with me? ?" our newfound friend suggested, shading her eyes as she glanced toward the setting sun disappearing behind the distant mountains.

"You do have the largest hut in this village, so I think it could work out...," Cindy agreed, seeming to be deep in thought about something.

"Uh, Cindy? Is something bothering you? ?" I wanted to know, taking one of her hands in mine.

She looked around at the rest of us for a moment or 2, then grabbed my wrist while carrying Marie in her opposite arm, saying firmly yet quietly, "I need to speak with you for a moment. Excuse us, Anya..."

"Take as long as you need," she politely returned with a nod.

"Thank you," Cindy said gratefully, then took me between the back of Anya's hut and the village wall discretely.

I noticed that she'd gripped my wrist so tightly, it was almost sprained. I rubbed it fervently in an attempt to alleviate the pain, then lowered my voice and asked her, "Okay, that really hurt, Cindy. What is it you want?"

"Our parents. They must be worried sick about us!" she quietly replied.

"Gas planet, I hadn't taken that into consideration! You're right, Cindy!" I told her, a tad shocked.

"One question remains, though... How are we going to contact them when we're separated by thousands of years? ! We're in 9,000 BC while they're in the year 2012! !" Cindy softly exclaimed.

"Thankfully," I informed her confidently, "I've created a new feature on my watch that will let us do just that. With the use of tachyons, I can send the signal to whatever time period I desire, provided there's a functioning device that is able to receive the signal on the opposite end. Since our destination date is 2012, we should have no trouble at all reaching it."

"Well, then, what are you waiting for? ! Activate it!" she quietly urged me.

"There is, however, one setback to activating my watch in any form: it would cease to be camouflaged while I'm using it, increasing the risk of us being found out as visitors from another time," I hastily warned her, peeking around the side of the hut cautiously.

"Then, let's step out of the village and head to the river, then activate it," Cindy finally convinced me.

"Good idea," I agreed, and headed back to the group with her.

"What was that all about, Jimmy?" Libby wanted to know.

I just shushed her with a finger to my lips, then motioned her and the rest of them to follow me.

"Is something wrong, Jimmy? ?" Anya questioned me, clearly a tad concerned.

"No, just matters that only concern our tribe, strictly confidential...," I told her as we headed out of the village.

"Oh, okay. Be sure to be back before moonrise," she reminded us.

"Will do," Cindy promised with a nod from the rest of us as we passed through the village gate.

After we had walked away a fair distance, Sheen pointed out, "Uh, Jimmy? Do they have bathrooms in the Stone Age? ? Cuz I really gotta go! !"

"I'm afraid not, Sheen...," I hastily told him, checking my watch's data on the current time period, "According to my data, the Stone Age inhabitants of this time period probably relieved themselves in the nearby rivers wherever they lived."

"Ew, that's nasty!" Libby remarked with a grossed out look on her face.

"No way! I think it's cool!" Sheen exclaimed, and ran into the river, which was luckily flowing slowly so he wouldn't be swept away. After taking care of his needs, he returned with a satisfied look on his face.

"Well, I'm glad at least _you're_ fine with that, Sheen...," Cindy put in, looking equally disgusted.

"Yucky!" Marie agreed, blowing a strawberry about it.

"Like it or not, that's gonna be our only option in that situation," I hastily informed them, "At least, until we get back to our time again..."

"Well, we came out this far away from the village for a different reason, right? ?" Libby clarified.

"You're right, Libby. Our parents need to know about this," I agreed, setting up my watch to send out the tachyon transmission...


	42. Chapter 42- Discovered!

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 42: Discovered!

(Cindy's POV)

Just as Jimmy was about to send the transmission into hyperspace, a deafening roar seemed to shake the very ground we were standing on. Terrified, he deactivated it and we frantically looked around for the source of the frightening sound, but found nothing just staying where we were.

"J-Jimmy, what k-kind of animal just made that n-n-noise? !" Carl stammered, apparently the most terrified out of all of us.

"Everyone, get behind me! I know how to handle this!" he ordered, pointing in the direction behind him.

"Jimmy, are you sure about this? ! A lot of terrifying predators were known to live during the last Ice Age! ! Not just mammoths, but saber-toothed tigers and giant sloths, too!" I informed him anxiously, biting my nails a bit, which was something I _rarely_ ever did.

"The saber-toothed tiger is the only one we have to really worry about out of the 3. The mammoths and giant sloths are herbivores," Jimmy hastily told us, a worried look on his face.

"Yeah, but those other 2 could still crush a human with their sheer size!" Libby worriedly reminded us.

"Oh, _please! !_" Sheen said with a smirk, completely unaware of the immensely large shadow that rapidly descended upon us cast by the rising moonlight, his back turned to it, "How big could they REALLY be? !"

Shaking in fear with the majority of our group, Carl pointed a trembling finger at the gigantic figure behind him and practically whimpered, "T-Try that giant c-creature r-r-right b-b-behind you, Sh-Sheen! ! !"

He slowly turned around to face the creature, then looked upward into its glowing eyes and gasped. "I s-see what ya m-mean, Carl! ! It's huge! !" Sheen exclaimed, "We'd better get outta here! ! !"

"For once, I second what Sheen said!" I agreed, scooping up Marie who'd previously been sitting near me on the ground, "Scram, everyone! !"

Without a second thought from any of us, we scurried back to the village in well under a minute, barely making it through the gate before it was shut and the creature was able to catch up to us.

Through the moonlight, I could just make out Anya hurrying over to meet us. After she reached us, she gasped, "Is everybody okay? ! I could just make out the giant sloth's head as it approached the village!"

"And thank GOD we ran when we did! ! That critter would've crushed us flat!" I wholeheartedly agreed, cuddling Marie extra close while glancing at the village gate.

"Guess those confidential matters of ours will have to wait until tomorrow...," Jimmy muttered with a sigh, "It's time for us to get to bed by now..."

"Well, come with me and I'll prepare you some pelts to sleep on," Anya invited, leading us back to her hut. We followed her back, then afterwords, I noticed a slight problem. Big as her home was, it was just barely large enough to allow all of us to sleep in, laying down...

After thinking that over a few moments, and as Anya was preparing our beds, I spoke up and asked, "Are you sure all of us are going to fit in this home of yours? ?"

"What utter nonsense! Of course, it's going to hold you! Silly girl!" she teased, smoothing out the last of the pelts.

"Well, I'm tired!" Carl put in with a yawn, and settled onto the pelt nearest the doorway, then pulled up the extra pelt that served as a blanket and was asleep within moments, snoring loudly.

"Now that you mention it, I'm pretty wiped out myself...," Jimmy noted, and settled into the pelt bed next to Carl.

I walked up to him hesitantly, then cleared my throat a bit and wanted to know, "Um, mind if I sleep next to you, Jimmy? ?"

"Huh? Oh, Cindy. Sure, I don't mind...," he sleepily replied, not bothering to look up at me.

"Thanks," I told him, laying down on the pelt next to him, making sure Marie had room next to me. After covering ourselves up, I reached over and lightly caressed his shoulder, saying softly, "G'night, Jimmy..."

"'Night, sweetie," Jimmy barely whispered, for he was almost fast asleep.

Just before my eyes fully closed, I noticed that Sheen and Libby had laid down across from us, cuddling together gently with Taylor in between them. I finally couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, and drifted off to sleep for the night.

The following morning, I woke up to the bright sun, just rising over the horizon, shining in my eyes. I rubbed my eyes, stretched, and sat up in my pelt bed. I was just admiring the sunrise when I heard someone near me mutter, "Ow... Careful where you're stretching, Cindy. You hit me in the eye there..." That made me jump just a bit in surprise, then I turned to see who'd said that. I soon found that it was Jimmy, already sitting up in his bed while rubbing where I'd accidentally hit him. "Oh!" I softly exclaimed, "Sorry about that, Jimmy!"

"Nah, it's okay, Cindy...," he reassured me, "I needed an early start to the day, anyway. Why are you up so early?"

"The glare of the sunrise got me up," I informed him, giggling softly so as to not wake our daughter or the others who were still sleeping.

"So I see...," Jimmy replied, a thoughtful look on his face, "It's best to get an early start today, so I can begin working on how to get us back to our own time."

"Good idea, Jimmy," I gratefully agreed, "As exciting as this era is, I really wanna leave this Neolithic Era behind and get back to 2012..."

I was later informed exactly what happened in Retroville while we were stuck in the Stone Age...

Meanwhile, back in the year 2012, an all-too-familiar buck-toothed villain makes his dastardly plans in yet another attempt to _destroy_ Jimmy Neutron, or at least humiliate him beyond repair socially, mentally, and emotionally...

"This is it, Blix! I think I've finally come up with a way to destroy Neutron! !" Eustace Strych thought aloud as he sat comfortably in his easy chair in front of his million-dollar fireplace, "I'll make him PAY, even literally, in fact! Just the other day, I saw him at the jewelry store purchasing a diamond ring. It was only one carat, which was totally pathetic, by the way! Luckily, I've got a duplicate just waiting to be used! Come, this way, Blix! We shall see if he can outsmart his way out of _this_ one...! !" The 2 of them made their way down the long corridor that led to the double-doors of his bedroom, entered via a complex security system that included a handprint analyzer, an iris scan, and voice recognition, among other things, and ventured over to a large, historic painting by da Vinci. With the touch of a button on a small remote, the painting opened like a small doorway to reveal a safe with 3 combination locks and a fingerprint scanner put there for security measures.

With a few twists of the dials and a quick scan of his fingerprint, the safe unlocked to reveal a heap of priceless jewels and artifacts. Eustace reached in and searched through the pile worth billions of dollars and muttered, "Dash it all, Blix, it's GOT to be in here somewhere... I've got dozens of priceless rings in here, but which one is only one carat? Wait a moment... Ah, here it is! Brilliant! !"

"So, uh, you've got a plan, mine heir? ?" Blix questioned warily in his German accent.

"Precisely! Blix, sell this pathetic excuse for a ring to the local jeweler in Retroville. One hour from now is when we'll frame Neutron for its theft! !" Eustace cackled evilly, a devious plan forming in his spoiled rotten mind. Then he demanded, handing his servant the ring, "Blix, use the hi-tech financial exchange system to teleport and sell it! I'll put the finishing touches on the Neutron 2.0 robot..."

"As you wish, Mr. Strych!" he replied faithfully, and went over to the financial exchange system, entered in a numerical sequence, and teleported the ring, immediately receiving the appropriate cash amount in return. Blix then returned to Eustace and gave him the cash, which he folded neatly and stored in his velvet robe pocket. "So, how goes the progress on the robot, mine heir? ?" he wanted to know.

Eustace just cackled evilly again and responded with a sneer, "It's nearly complete! The artificial hands have the exact same handprints as Neutron, so any fingerprints left behind will lead to him! I've only got to duplicate his shoes exactly, and then activate the droid! Let's see... Type in the appropriate commands...execute the creation process... and BINGO! ! !" He reached inside the compartment that spit out the shoes just created and picked them up, bringing them to his nearly-completed robot and firmly attaching them by latching them shut. He then stepped back to admire his creation, announcing triumphantly, "Yes, Blix, I believe I've done it! ! It looks exactly like him!"

Blix stood back next to Eustace and added, taking a good look at it and handing him the remote that controlled it, "Excellent work, mine heir! Now, to activate it via remote... Care to do the honors? ?"

"It would be my pleasure!" he exclaimed, and pressed the activation button on the remote, causing the droid's eyes to glow bright red as it "awakened", "Brilliant! ! Now, pay close attention, Neutron 2.0! Your task is to infiltrate the local Retroville jewelry store, steal a 1-carat diamond ring, then return here! Understand? !"

The droid nodded, then, using the built-in rockets in its shoes, rocketed out of the Strych residence through a nearby escape hatch, headed right for downtown Retroville!

Several minutes later, it touched down in the middle of the street, walking casually up to the entrance of the jewelry store...

Officer Tubbs happened to see it nearby, mistaking it for the real Jimmy, and rushed over, extending his hand in greeting as he said, "Why, hello there, Mr. Neutron! Pleasure to see you this afternoon-"

But he didn't get to finish, because Neutron 2.0 identified him as a threat, grabbing Tubbs' hand and slinging him onto the sidewalk, landing him on his back. Then it slammed one of its fists into the window and lept inside, leaving Tubbs laying on the sidewalk in excruciating pain, with him groaning, "Someone, please, call an ambulance..."

The jeweler spotted the droid marching up to him and offered, "Can I help you-" But he was cut short because Neutron 2.0 grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slung him across the store, landing into one of the window displays and going unconscious.

The droid turned its attention to the display in front of him, then smashed one of its fists into the glass while its other hand rested on part of the display nearby. It slung its hand through the jewels until it found the 1-carat ring, then snatched it and stored it in a compartment in its chest cavity. Then it charged through the glass door and ran down the street, close to the speed of Sheen as Vibrating Lad, and disappeared without another trace, not realizing it had left a trail of mud behind it the entire time...

I was to later be informed that all that took place during our absence, but at the time, we had no earthly idea it was occurring. We were all too concerned about letting our parents know of our whereabouts, 9,000 BC.

"So," I persisted quietly, "Shouldn't we get going on that tachyon transmission?"

"Yes, we should," Jimmy calmly replied, picking Marie up gently so as to not wake her up and the two of us rising to our feet, "Go get the others up, then meet me just outside the village, okay?"

I nodded my reply, then went over to Carl, Libby, and Sheen, in that order, and urged them quietly and giving them each a nudge with my foot, "C'mon, it's about time we let our parents know where we are. Come with me, but quietly, so as to not wake Anya up..."

They each quietly voiced their agreement and got up one by one, following me to the village entrance. Once there, I pushed the wooden doorlock to the right just enough for the gate to open, then we ventured out of the village just several hundred yards downriver and hiding ourselves behind some large bushes nearby.

When we got ourselves settled, I added to Jimmy, "Okay, now you can relay that transmission into the future from Goddard..."

"Excellent," he concluded, and pressed a sequence of keys on his watch that activated the transmission of tachyons through Goddard into the future. Before long, a fuzzy image on his screen appeared that sharpened to perfect clarity. The living room of the Neutron vicinity came into focus, with Hugh waxing up some of his ducks and Judy flipping through TV channels, searching for a soap opera, no doubt!

Sheen immediately got in front of our end of the monitor and hollered, waving, "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Neutron! !"

That caused both parents to be startled a bit and jump in their seats, which I found quite amusing, giggling to myself a bit. Once they regained their composure, they stood up to face the opposing monitor just above the front living room window, with Judy asking, "What's going on? Is everything alright, kids? ?"

Jimmy clearly noticed that Sheen was in the way and blocking the screen, so he snapped while giving him a light shove, "Sheen, _move! !_"

"Okay, okay! I'm going! Yeesh! !" he protested, getting out of his way.

"Thank you, Sheen," Jimmy thanked him with a glare, then turned his attention to his parents and added, "You'll both probably notice that we're in some sort of brushland with a river nearby... There's a good explanation for that!"

"Oh, that's easy to guess, Jimbo! You're clearly out in the desert for the burning of the giant duck!" Hugh commented in approval, laughing.

"Uh, no. Not even close...," he told them begrudgingly, slapping his forehead, "A mishap in my lab with Marie evidently warped us back in time to the Stone Age. She is learning to walk already, despite her young age... She got up on a stool and pressed too many buttons and levers, which caused us to warp."

I temporarily looked upward and saw a beam of energy being shot vertically into the sky from Goddard and into some kind of wormhole. "So that's how they're getting the signal..., " I said to myself thoughtfully. I also noted that it was thundering and crackling with electricity where the beam intersected with the wormhole high above us. I then pointed out to everyone around me, "Um, there sure is a lot of electricity crackling overhead at the wormhole's entrance, and it's pretty loud. I sure hope that doesn't get us discovered as strangers from another time, or, according to the primitive people in this time period, evil spirits from the bowels of the earth..."

"Excellent point, Cin!" Libby agreed with me as Jimmy continued to converse with his parents, gazing upward, "If that happens, there could be trouble..."

"What are you guys so worried about?!" Sheen tried to convince us, a heroic look on his face, "What could _possibly_ go wrong now?! Anyway, if we're attacked, UltraLord will save us! !"

"Ugh... Not again...," I groaned, slapping my forehead begrudgingly.

"Sheen, please just shut up, hon...," Libby snapped at him.

"Sorry," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

Just then, we heard hurried footsteps coming toward us, so I poked my head over the bushes and glanced toward the town. My heart immediately skipped a beat as I saw Anya approaching us, so I shook Jimmy's shoulder and urged, "Jimmy, Anya's coming! We need to turn this thing off! !"

"Sorry, I can't hear you over all the static from the wormhole-!" he started to say, but was interrupted as Anya spoke up as she approached us.

"I knew you travelers were strange, but this is almost too much to bear!" she remarked, dramatically raising her hands into the air, "What is this strange light coming from the sky?! Oh, no! This can only mean one thing, that you're the evil ones from the underworld! ! ! I must alert my village! !" With that, she took off running back to her village to spread the word.

"I knew this would happen! !" Carl cried helplessly, "Now they're probably gonna burn us at the stake or something like that! !"

"Carl, you're such a big BABY! !" Sheen barked at him.

"Sheen, calm down! !" I hissed, grabbing his wrist.

"Cindy, quiet! You're makin' Taylor cry!" Libby shushed me, trying to soothe her squalling child.

Sheen looked over the bushes and pointed, saying nervously, "I think we better scram, cuz here they come! !"


	43. Chapter 43- New Friend Despite Chaos

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 43: New Friend Despite Chaos

(Libby's POV)

Sensing a threat soon to be coming our way from the nearby village, I shook Jimmy's shoulder and urged, "Neutron, you're gonna have to cut that short, cuz Anya just went back to her village for reinforcements! ! She thinks we're 'the evil ones'!"

He looked over at me with fear in his eyes and agreed, "I had a _feeling_ something like this would happen!" Then he turned to Goddard's screen again to face his parents and told them nervously, "Mom, Dad, I have to cut this short. Angry villagers are gonna be after us any moment now!"

"Be careful, sweetie! !" Mrs. Neutron warned, then Goddard cut the signal, causing the beam and wormhole above it to disappear without a trace and him returning to his wolf-like appearance.

Then Carl peeked over the bushes again and exclaimed, pointing, "Hey, it looks like Anya's coming back! And there's a lot of villagers behind her! !"

The rest of us looked where he was pointing and saw what he meant; our little group had to scram, and FAST! ! !

Then I looked at Anya leading the approaching mob and saw her stumble a bit, then trip over a medium-sized rock and slide face-down into a larger one, the impact knocking her out as the others trampled over her. I cringed as I saw it happen, telling myself, "Ooo, that's _gotta_ hurt..."

Then I quickly suggested, "Quick, into these bushes! They won't see us that way! !"

They didn't give it a second thought as we all scrambled inside them, there being plenty of room for all of us, including Goddard.

Once the villagers reached us, one stopped and pointed out, "Hey, no one's here!"

"Well, keep looking! ! The evil ones have to be here somewhere!" another demanded to the first, and they took off running again into the distance.

As we emerged from the bushes once we knew it was safe, Jimmy breathed gratefully, "Now that was a close one!"

"I couldn't agree more," Cindy heartfully agreed, holding Marie close to her.

"Yeah," I concurred, my glance returning to Anya every minute or so, then I informed them, "Shouldn't we go see if Anya's okay?"

"Are you nuts?! She's the one who turned her whole tribe against us!" Sheen persisted.

"Yeah, but then she tripped, skidded face-first on the ground, and slammed her head into a large rock! See what I mean?!" I snapped, pointing at her, who was still knocked unconscious.

He turned to see where I was pointing and agreed with a nod, "Yeah, you're right. That looks pretty harsh! !"

"I hope she's okay...," Carl put in, clearly concerned about her well-being.

"Let's go make sure of that," Cindy strongly suggested, heading to where Anya was laying on the ground, motioning for us to follow.

I followed close behind her, then the rest of them followed suit a few moments later. I stooped down to her level to get a closer look, then noticed her facial muscles begin to twitch a bit. "Hey, she's wakin' up!" I observed, immediately rising to my feet again.

She groaned a bit, rubbed her head, and sat up, the rest of us staring down at her. "Anya, are you feeling alright? ?" Jimmy wanted to know.

"Ow, my head...," she moaned, rubbing her eyes some, then looked up and told us, "I don't know any Anya. My name's Erika Carthos, and I'm from Athens, Greece. What the hell am I doing in the Neolithic Era?! And why am I dressed like this?! !"

"You don't remember?! I thought you were- Oh...," Cindy gasped, appalled at her apparent memory loss.

"If you're from Greece, and this time period is new to you, then you must've experienced some type of amnesia up until now. That knock on your head must've kicked you out of it," Jimmy concluded, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Knock on my head? Is that why it's hurting so much?" Erika wanted to know, rubbing her forehead as she rose to her feet.

"Yeah," Cindy added, "You apparently thought you were from this time period, and were running after us cuz we insulted your 'beliefs' somehow... A throng of native people were following you in hot pursuit, so we hid as they passed us by. That was when we saw you trip, fall, and slide into a rock, hitting your head hard."

"That explains it!" she exclaimed, then paused, thinking for a few moments, then commented, "Now that I think about it, I remember how I got here in the first place...! I was designing a universal teleportation doorway, during a freak thunderstorm which was clearly a bad idea, and it was nearly finished when lightning zapped it and sent me hurdling through a wormhole. When I exited, I landed on a large rock and lost consciousness. I don't remember what happened after that, up until now, that is..."

"So, it was amnesia you had!" I clarified with a snap of my fingers, "Someone must've found you and brought you to their tribe, cleaning you up and teaching you their ways, even giving you a new name!"

"That explains why you were running after us before you tripped and fell," Carl interjected helpfully.

"You're right! It all makes sense now!" Erika realized, "I must've befriended you while I was amnesic, then I was somehow threatened and called for backup! But now that I'm myself again, I don't know who any of you are..."

Before we could introduce ourselves, however, we heard the mob from beforehand returning. "There they are!" yelled the first tribesman as they ran towards us.

"Hey," demanded a second, "Why is Anya with them?! She's not talking like us!"

"She must be one of the evil ones! Get them! !" the first shrieked, leading the mob even closer to us.

"Let's get outta here! !" I shrieked, making a break for it with Taylor in my baby sling, the others following close behind me.

As we were running from the mob on the shoreline of the Tigris, Jimmy managed to say, "Usually I'm the one who leads the group to safety and away from danger!"

"That doesn't matter right now, Jimmy!" Cindy snapped, breathing heavily while holding Marie carefully, "We need to find somewhere to take cover from all these tribesmen!"

Just then, Marie suddenly pointed to our right at an area a few hundred feet away from us, pointing out, "There! Cave good!" We stopped for a moment and looked to our right, and just as Marie said, there was a vacant cave available for us to take cover in.

Immediately afterwords, we heard the tribesmen rapidly approaching us, so Cindy urged frantically, "Quick! Everyone, get in there! !" We didn't waste one single moment as we scrambled into the cave, then hid behind some large boulders. At that moment, the tribesmen tore past us, completely unaware that they'd just passed us by. I noticed that Jimmy had used a hologram on his watch to disguise the cave's entrance as completely empty.

"Phew! Nice going with the hologram-thingy, Jimmy!" Sheen breathed with a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Sheen, but we're not safe yet... Those tribesmen are bound to return the way they came and hopefully head back to their tribe. Until then, we need to stay put where we are," Jimmy cautioned us, placing the hologram-projecting portion of his watch on top of the boulder for our safety. We could see through it from our side, but anyone outside it couldn't, kind of a one-way-mirror type of thing, only more advanced.

We remained crouched down with only our eyes peeking over the boulders, watching for the mob to return to their homes. Sure enough, after an angsty ten minutes had passed, they passed us by again headed in the opposite direction toward their village. Once they'd passed and we could hear them no longer, we finally emerged from our hiding spots and Jimmy deactivated his cloaking device, putting it back in his watch.

I wasn't too sure if Erika, if that was her real name, was telling the truth, so I walked up to her and asked, "Okay, why are you REALLY here, girl?"

"I told you, lightning struck my teleportation doorway, I was sucked through the wormhole it caused, and exited it violently, knocking my head on a rock when I landed! That gave me amnesia, and we figured out that the tribe adopted me, my alternate personality met you, and you somehow angered me and I had sent the entire mob after you! Tripping and knocking my head on another rock snapped me out of my amnesia, as you may recall, and we retreated here to hide from the mob. But, I've still yet to know your names or anything else!" Erika persisted, who seemed to be quite annoyed that I didn't believe she was who she was.

"Okay, okay! !" Cindy gave in after apparently overhearing all that was said, "We believe you! Now, for our introductions... I'm Cindy, and this is Jimmy, and this little one I'm holding is our daughter Marie. And these are our friends Sheen and Libby, and their daughter Taylor in the baby sling, and there's Carl, who's petting Goddard, Jimmy's robotic dog."

"He actually looks like a real one, to me, like a miniature wolf," our new friend commented, looking a bit confused.

"Goddard, if you will? ?" Jimmy instructed his dog, and he transformed back into his regular self again.

"Yay! Neat trick, doggy!" Marie squealed, giggling and clapping her tiny hands.

"Whoa! I didn't know your daughter could talk, Jimmy! How old exactly IS she?! She looks really young!" Erika gasped in awe.

"Same age as Taylor, three months old, except her mind is much more advanced than Taylor's," he gladly explained to her.

Cindy giggled and added, "Just like her to take after her daddy! I'm absolutely positive that we've got a little genius here!"

"I'm very impressed!" she complimented the young parents, then she seemed to go deep into thought for a few moments. A few moments later, her mind seemed to click as she exclaimed, "That would explain Goddard! He's obviously been created by a brilliant scientist, who's among us as we speak and would be none other than Jimmy! Exactly how smart are you?!"

He just smirked with a light chuckle as he informed Erika, "My IQ happens to be 212, to be exact. I've earned a great respect among the citizens in my hometown regarding my intelligence!"

I just rolled my eyes sarcastically and thought to myself, _Sheesh! What a braggart! !_

"You should see his lab!" Carl boasted excitedly, "It's got all KINDS of neat stuff in it!"

"Including the machine that accidentally warped us here," I remarked with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that!" Jimmy put in, "My daughter is just learning to walk, and with the help of a stool, climbed up and pressed lots of buttons and levers on the machine, accidentally warping us here... We've yet to find a way to get back to our own time, though..."

"Hey," I interjected, "Since we're hidin' in this cave, we might as well remove these disguise-wristbands, or whatever they're called."

"Good idea, Libby!" Cindy complimented me, slipping hers and Marie's off and instantly returning to their modern outfits and hairstyles.

"Excellent point," Jimmy agreed, and slipped his off, as well. The rest of us soon followed suit and slipped ours off. "Slip them into my hypercube, in case we need them again," he told us as he brought out his hypercube and passed it around to each of us. When removed, the wristbands took on a metallic, futuristic appearance, which was quite clever in my opinion.

No sooner had we put them in it and had he put away his hypercube when an alert on his watch resounded. He activated it, and Goddard quickly transformed back into his tachyon-transmission mode, an image of his parents soon appearing on his screen. As I looked at them, I could tell they were very worried about their son, because their glances kept returning to the television in the background.

"Okay, Mom, Dad... What exactly is going on in our time?!" Jimmy questioned them, clearly more than just concerned; he was worried.

"We're out of pie!" Hugh started to say, but Judy stopped him and snapped, "Hugh, this isn't the time to be worried about that!"

Jimmy just rolled his eyes sarcastically and persisted, "So, what's the REAL problem?!"

Judy temporarily stepped away from the receiving end of the camera, then the view on their end was turned to face their television. She stepped back into view and pointed out, pointing at the television, "See for yourself, Jimmy! !"

It looked as if a news report was being televised live in our time, and we soon found out what exactly was being reported: a crime had been committed in an attempt to frame one of us! But which of us was the one being framed?! That was what we found out _next..._


	44. Chapter 44- Wrongly Blamed, Past Present

Emerging Compassions

Chapter 44: Wrongly Accused, Past and Present

(Sheen's POV)

As our group watched what was being reported on the Neutrons' television through Goddard, it was gradually revealed that one of us was framed for a jewelry store theft. The individual filmed bore an uncanny resemblance to a certain someone in our group, but I couldn't put my finger on who, exactly... The thief seemed to have super-speed in everything they did, from flinging the living daylights out of Officer Tubbs to running away from the scene of the crime! Only someone with superpowers could run that fast, and it reminded me of the time I got super-speed once. But I knew it wasn't me, cuz I was back in the past with the others. However, I was still confused beyond belief about the whole thing, so I asked the entire group, "Okay, I'm confused now. The thief in the video looks like one of us, but I can't figure out who, and how can it be one of us when we're all back in time?!"

"Ugh! ! You idiot!" Cindy snapped firmly, "Who does it LOOK like?! The blue jeans, the red t-shirt, sound familiar?!"

"Yeah, it does!" Carl agreed, quickly getting fear in his eyes, "That's Jimmy on their TV screen! Only, how can it be him when he's standing right here with us?!"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Libby barked, clearly frustrated, "Someone created either a clone of him or some sorta hi-tech robot that looks remarkably like Neutron."

Then a close-up of the imposter was shown on the screen, revealing its glowing red eyes. The newscaster was clearly oblivious to that fact as she mistakenly identified it as Jimmy, saying that a reward of $20,000 was offered for his capture and being turned in to the authorities.

Marie took notice of that and pointed out, in her first complete sentence, "Hey! Daddy's eyes are blue, not red!"

"Excellent observation, Marie!" Jimmy noted approvingly of his daughter, tickling her under her chin a bit, which caused her to giggle, "Glowing red eyes are clearly artificial, meaning that the culprit was artificially made, as well! But the question is, who created that imposter?!"

Getting a thoughtful look on her face, Erika interjected, "Clearly one of his arch nemeses, for sure!"

"Very insightful, Erika...," Cindy added thoughtfully, then apparently realized something, saying, "Wait. How do you know he has arch nemeses? ? For all you know, he could only have allies on his side!"

"Now that I think about it, his name _does_ sound familiar, and no wonder!" she realized with a snap of her fingers, "How can someone be so smart and people not know about it over time?! I hear about him from time to time in the World News, when he makes a ground-breaking discovery in science or invents something that could potentially benefit mankind. I think he's even won a few Nobel Prizes, if I'm not mistaken!"

"Dang, I wouldn't doubt it for a minute!" I observed, wide-eyed, "He's a freaking genius!"

Jimmy just shrugged with a smirk and admitted, "Yeah, she's right. One of the three I've won was for the discovery of atomic monopoles in the Arctic. Quite ground-breaking, actually..."

I just gave him a blank stare and commented, "As usual, I have no idea what you just said..."

He laid a hand on my shoulder and replied with a laugh, "Hey, that's okay, cuz you're one of my best friends, Sheen!"

"And that's what matters, dude!" I thankfully agreed, then put in, "Yeah, I actually wouldn't be here today if it weren't for him!"

Erika could hardly believe her ears, it seemed, cuz she sputtered, "Wha- How?!"

"Well, wouldn't ya know it," Cindy remarked sarcastically, "Sheen here thought it would be funny to mess with Jimmy's chemicals when he wasn't looking! Happened around six months ago when the five of us got stranded in the jungles of Indonesia for a few months, since a missile had severely damaged his rocket and it took him a long time to repair it with the limited resources he had at hand. He had previously been concocting an advanced strain of the H1N1 virus to develop a vaccine for should the advanced form ever arise naturally, it being contained in a carbonated liquid which Sheen mistook for fizzy water when he tried to make himself some Purple Flurp... Jimmy had to find ingredients for an antidote in Indonesia and concoct it before Sheen became unconscious and the virus taking over and killing him, which it almost did. Making the antidote took around three days, almost enough time for that to happen to him, but the antidote was finished in time and his life was saved."

"I was just gonna say that I got sick and Jimmy cured me, but your explanation works, too, I guess," I responded with a laugh.

Jimmy gave me a stern glare and additionally reminded me, "And that taught you to not mess with my hazardous chemicals anymore, _right? ?_"

"You got that right, dude! !" I breathed with a sigh of relief, "I certainly won't do that again!"

Libby just groaned and snapped, "While we've been reminiscing about our past, some loser in the future is getting away with framing one of us! Man, that pisses me off! How are we gonna get back an' stop them?!"

"Unfortunately, we lack the technology to transport ourselves back to the future where we belong, at least, at the moment...," he hastily informed us, "I'll have to construct something with the resources we have at hand to do just that, but that means we'll have to be stuck here for a while until I'm finished."

"Like, for how long?!" Carl worriedly questioned.

"That's just it. I don't know, Carl," Jimmy told him apologetically.

"Um, may I interject?" Erika requested politely, "I might have an idea that would help transport us back to our own time!"

"By all means, proceed!" Cindy encouraged her, tickling Marie under her chin and making her giggle for a moment.

"That lightening strike to my teleportation doorway actually completed its circuits instead of frying them, and with the technology built into Goddard, we could connect both via tachyons and construct a wormhole large enough for us to traverse to connect us back to our time!" she proposed, a sheepish look on her face, "Then I can finally get back and put some REAL clothes back on instead of these itchy things I'm currently donning!"

We all just stared at her, bewildered, hardly believing that that complex terminology had just left her mouth. She noticed we were and wanted to know, "Uh, what are you staring at? ? Jimmy's not the only genius around here, ya know!"

The rest of us snapped out of it pretty quickly and returned to reality. Once he'd regained his composure, Jimmy complimented her, "Erika, that is the most _brilliant_ thing I've ever heard! What exactly IS your IQ?!"

Erika just smirked and informed him, "It happens to be 201, to be precise."

"Hmm...," he noted aloud, "Not that far off from myself. Let's get started, then!"

While the two of them began tinkering with Goddard and the help of Jimmy's hypercube he always seemed to have on hand, I wandered over to a nearby rock, leaning back against it as I laid down, and was soon fast asleep out of boredom, like Carl had already been doing.

I didn't know how long it was since then, but found Jimmy waking me and Carl up a while later, with him saying fervently, "Carl, Sheen, get up! It's finished, and we're gonna finally head back to our time now!"

"Finally! !" I exclaimed, "C'mon, Carl!"

"Yeah, it's about time!" he heartily agreed as we followed Jimmy to where the rest of the group was, gathered around a wormhole that had formed on the side of the cave wall. It seemed that he and Erika had used some parts from Goddard, rendering him thankfully separate from the project, and used them somehow to make the wormhole sitting in front of us. Impressed with the work, as usual, I complimented them, "Whoa, awesome! Sweet work, you two! !"

"So, this thing will get us back to our time, right, Jim?" Carl verified.

"That's right, Carl! Then we can get to the bottom of the plot of whoever framed me!" he informed him, then told all of us, "This thing won't last very long, for only about two minutes, so we need to jump in immediately! You have Marie, right, Cindy?"

"Yep!" she agreed, tickling her under her chin and making her giggle again.

He looked down near his feet to make sure Goddard was with us, and the mechanical dog seemed to understand and barked happily in response.

"Well, looks like we've got everyone! Let's go! !" Jimmy announced, and the eight of us, plus Goddard, lept in and were almost instantly transported back to a hi-tech lab of some sort, only it wasn't his. T_his lab must be Erika's, since she's almost as smart as Jimmy! Sweet! _I thought to myself, _Looks like she made it out of her garage, since there are windows in this one, unlike in Jimmy's lab..._

My thoughts were interrupted when he asked Erika, "Do you have any sort of transportation that would get us back to Retroville, such as a rocket?"

"It just so happens that I do!" she happily replied, picking up a remote from her workbench and pressing its button, opening a large compartment in the carport in front of her lab, a large rocket emerging that could thankfully seat all of us.

"Looks very efficient, Erika, but there's just one problem," Cindy reminded her.

"What would that be, Cindy?" she politely asked her.

"Where are our daughters gonna sit? There aren't any carseats for them..." I could tell she was really concerned about that, as were I, Libby, and Jimmy. Now that we had little girls to look after, safety was of the utmost importance.

"I've got it handled, so don't worry a bit!" Erika confidently reported to us, pressing another button on her remote and causing two carseats to appear on two of the eight seats available in her rocket.

"Whoa, cool! !" I exclaimed gratefully, taking Taylor and strapping her into one of them ever so gently. She just giggled and clapped her little hands out of glee. She didn't seem to be afraid of anything, just like myself.

Cindy stepped inside and strapped Marie into the other carseat in one of the rear left passenger seats, then sat beside her in the seat opposite her so she could keep an eye on her easily, whereas Jimmy sat just behind Cindy so he was able to keep an eye on his daughter, too.

The seating arrangement was as follows: Erika sat in the driver's seat and Libby took the seat next to her. The next two seats were occupied by Taylor and me on the right side of her. The following ones behind us had Marie, behind Taylor, and Cindy to the right of her, then in the back of the rocket sat Carl on the left and Jimmy on the right. We all strapped ourselves in, then Erika questioned as she pressed a button and closed the hatch, "Is everyone seated and strapped in? ?"

We all gave her a generally positive response in unison, with Marie interjecting, "We all safe now. Blast off! !"

Erika just laughed when she heard that, then agreed while starting up her rocket and lifting it off the ground, "How cute! Off we go, then!" Her rocket lifted several hundred feet off the ground, then took off at full blast, with our destination being Retroville, Texas, USA.

While on our way there, at more than twice the speed of sound, the possibility of who could've framed one of us, and who exactly it was, was avidly discussed among ourselves.

"It's absolutely disgusting!" Erika went on as she drove, "I mean, WHO in their demeaning mind would want to frame one of you guys?! I smell a rat who's either a highly-skilled genius who had the skills to build such an intricate droid look-alike or a filthy-rich _moron_ who paid someone a HUGE lump of cash to make it... Who would wanna frame you guys?!"

"Oh, I could name several creeps who'd wanna do just that, Erika...," Cindy remarked, "We've all foiled our share of villains in the past, but they're all usually after only one of us..."

"And that would be me," Jimmy interjected with a tone of disgust in his voice, "After carefully surveying the footage that Goddard had recorded via the tachyon transmission, I've discovered that the droid created was specifically designed to look like me. The utter _nerve_ of that imbecile! !"

"But who tried to frame you, Jim?!" Carl persisted.

"Yeah, Jimmy!" I agreed, just as anxious to know as I suspected he was, "Who's the culprit this time?!"

"I've narrowed it down to just a few suspects, but I'm not sure exactly which one it really is: Eustace Strych, Professor Calamitous, or Cousin Eddie," he clarified for us.

"They ALL bad! !" Marie put in with her adorable voice, and blew a strawberry for emphasis. Taylor seemed to agree with her and blew a strawberry, as well.

"I thought Professor Calamitous couldn't ever finish anything, though...," Libby reminded us.

"Libby brings up a valid point!" Cindy pointed out, "That creep can really only finish his sentences, from what I've observed. And didn't he, a few months ago, ally with Jimmy's cousin Eddie for some strange animal mind-control plot? ?"

"Oh, yeah! That's what he was talking about then; I remember now!" I recalled with a snap of my fingers, "What a loser!"

"Good point, you two!" Jimmy seemed to remember, concluding, "So, that eliminates Calamitous and Eddie. That only leaves... Eustace Strych! ! What a jerk!"

"You said it, Neutron...!" Libby scoffed furiously, "That spoiled, rich moron will do anything t' get back atcha!"

"Sounds like a real idiot to me!" Erika heartily agreed, then abruptly changed the subject as she added, "Hang on. I'm presently decreasing our speed so we're able to land safely..."

"Once we landed and all emerged from Erika's rocket, however, we beheld a chaotic scene almost too horrific for words! Our very lives and that of everyone around us were in dire jeopardy! !


End file.
